


Typo

by stardivarius



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band), X Factor (US) RPF
Genre: AU, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-04
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2017-12-25 14:50:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/954408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardivarius/pseuds/stardivarius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lauren's a popular 17-year-old from Miami, with a well known blog. Camila's the generally quiet, shy, well-protected, and still largely unknown teenage daughter of Vogue magazine's editor-in-chief mother, and investment banker father, Sinuhe and Alejandro Cabello. They happen to meet by chance during Lauren's short vacation to New York and there's an instant connection despite being complete strangers. After a mutual agreement to stay in contact, the girls exchange numbers. However, Lauren later finds out that Camila has made a typo with her phone number and is stubbornly set on finding her. Luckily for Lauren, just like her mother, Camila's got a good eye. (And not just for fashion.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Candy Crushin'

Booya. Totally owned level sixty-four, bitches. _Fuckin’. Amazing._

“I’m sorry, um. I’m a little bit lost.” 

 

Camila froze and looked up from her iPhone, a little annoyed that someone had interrupted her highly important candy crush session when she noticed a girl about her age fidgeting nervously in front of her.

 

Said girl was dressed impeccably for her style. Dark washed jeans, intentionally oversized patterned sweater and a white peter pan collar underneath, it leaned towards hipster rather than indie. Her outfit was completed by peep-toe boots. She knew right away that it was an Oscar de la Renta Mauritania piece, and she had a pair exactly like it _._ _Beautiful shoes._ Automatically liking this stranger at once, Camila gave her a wary smile.

 

Not only did the other girl look about her age, but she was also _kinda_ hot. Not that that was the first thing she noticed. No, no, no – it was the way the girl stood in front of her. _Her stance_. Despite being shy and obviously uncomfortable with the understandable awkwardness of their situation, she seemed _prepared_. Like she was bracing herself or something. Parents are probably well off, judging from the girl’s clothing. Or the branded items she noticed right away. Like the Mulberry oversized Alexa bag clutched tightly in the girl’s slender, impeccably manicured fingers. She had plenty of experience taking apart a person’s outfit, and she found that while she thoroughly enjoyed judging an ensemble, this girl’s was perfect.

 

“Y-you’re lost?” She gripped her phone tightly to keep from physically face-palming when she stuttered. The other girl gave her a half smile and Camila nearly stopped breathing.

 

_She was so damn pretty._

With her dark, wavy hair and a beanie Camila knew she’d never be able to pull off without looking like a total dork, it wasn’t hard to understand why the group of extremely cute guys from her school that usually hung out near the Fro-yo shop began staring in their direction; not that she minded of course.

 

 _Focus, Cam, focus_. This is like level sixty-four. Except in real life. And without (violently smashing) the candy. Or the bonus points. Or dying from failing a level. (It felt like dying.) Or a pretty girl. (Or even rarer, said girl wearing a perfect outfit.)

 

“Yeah. My parents are around here somewhere and my group is at the food court.” The girl replied wringing her hands together nervously. “And my phone died just then.” She added, a blush tinging her cheeks a pretty pink. She ducked her head at first, seeming shy and then stared intently at Camila.

 

_Camila’s dead._

She knows she’s dead because she’s stopped breathing. And she knows she’s stopped breathing because she can swear that her normal vision didn’t usually have fucking sparkles in them. She can see the girl’s still talking – her lips are still moving – most likely about how her family’s probably worried and that she needs a payphone or something–

 

“So – uh – can you help me?”

 

Those green eyes that Camila hadn’t really noticed before immediately set themselves on her brown ones and caught her so off-guard that all she could do was stupidly gape back. (As she’d been doing for the past two minutes.)

 

“Uh.” Camila took a deep breath. “Yeah fine, I’ll totally help you.” She said tearing her gaze away from the other girl’s.

 

She’s helping a total stranger. A stranger. A complete total stranger. She’s definitely dead. Or stupid.

_Whatever_.

 

“I’m Lauren.”

 

“Karla.” Camila flushed. _Damn it_. “I mean, Camila.”

 

“Camila?”

 

She nodded. She said “Camila” all sexy and low and – _Cam, focus_.

 

“How are you lost anyway?” She asked as neutrally as possible. However, it came out more snarky than intended.

 

Lauren’s cheeks pinked even further, and not just from the cold autumn wind that blew in from the sliding doors that opened every few seconds near them.

 

“I sort of, had a disagreement with my friends, so I just left.”

 

Camila stared.

 

“So you _‘just left_?’”

 

“ _Yeah._ ” Lauren said, as if that was the most obvious answer in the world.

 

“In a city you’re probably unfamiliar with?”

 

The girl scoffed.

 

“I’ve been here, like, twice, okay.”

 

“But you left.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Nice job, smartass.”

 

“Hey!”

 

Lauren’s cheeks reddened a little more and Camila found that she couldn’t help but notice how much prettier the other girl became, even whilst flustered.

 

“Just be glad I’m here to save your ass then.” She said in a moment of boldness.

 

“Pretty grateful, actually.” She sounded so damn sincere that Camila’s resolve gave in right there.

 

Camila visibly blushed under the intense stare Lauren gave her. Her eyes are such a startlingly stunning shade of green, she noticed, trying her hardest not to stare too hard at them. Not the intense green gaze she was used to with her friend, Nathaniel. Similar shades, of course, but not the same. There was something about those eyes though, that saw _into_ her. It was a little daunting because they literally just met, but strangely, she didn’t mind it at all.

“Are we anywhere near the food court?” Lauren asked with a groan.

 

Camila shook her head, bow tie in her hair bouncing as she moved around. She fought another blush as Lauren’s eyes followed her bow’s movements.

 

She replied, pointing at a store directly adjacent to them. “But over there is Typo.”

 

Lauren squealed excitedly and ran inside giggling, in a way Camila found ridiculously endearing; not that she usually found a stranger’s laughter to be adorable – _no_ – just Lauren’s.

 

She located the taller girl in the middle of the store, happily testing out different pens on a huge sheet of notepad paper, which she supposed were ‘vintage’ style. It was a huge-ass notepad though, she mused. And Lauren’s handwriting was the pretty cursive sort. Where the lines weren’t quite straight, and some sentences weren’t quite as legible as the others, but it was gorgeous in its own way without being over-the-top. It suited her. And Camila found that she liked it. _A lot._

Chancing a quick glance at what Lauren had written on the doodle-filled page, she knew at once that it was Lana Del Ray’s Dark Paradise. She giggled. It was so _obvious_.

 

Noting the overly metropolitan feel of the store, she turned to Lauren to ask a question but found her drawing an outline of a triangle onto her wrist with a black pen. She blinked.

“You’re actually into these?” she asked, interrupting Lauren’s carefree exploration of what looked like very oddly decorated pens. She supposed they were pens at first, but they actually turned out to be pen-shaped-stamps. _Odd_.

 

“This shop is the coolest!” Lauren told her.

 

“It’s Typo.” Camila stared at all the little decorations and odd-ends in the store. It was so… _Hipster_.

 

“Even the name is cool.” Lauren said not looking up from her writing. Camila strangely wanted the other girl to pay more attention to her. Those eyes that searched through hers earlier were currently focussed on something else and she didn’t really enjoy that.

 

“It’s Typo.” She said raising an eyebrow. “It literally means ‘mistake.’”

 

Lauren remained quiet, content with tracing the same triangle with another coloured pen.

 

“It’s actually short for typographical error. Or typing mistake, whichever you prefer, really.”

 

Camila stared at her.

 

“Whatever.”

 

Lauren shrugged and carelessly tossed the pen back into a random mug, also filled with pens of similar style. Next to it was retro-style alarm clock, which Camila found really cute, except she didn’t want to admit it was cute. Because by admitting it was cute, she’d lose. Lose what exactly? Her dignity. Or her un-Hipster-ness.

 

“Are we going to find your people?”

 

Lauren looked up at her, a thoroughly confused expression on her face. It was kind of cute. If Camila squinted.

 

“Yeah. But five more minutes.”

 

“You sure your parents aren’t going to be worried?”

 

“You sure that you don’t just wanna get rid of me?” Lauren asked, fixing her green eyes on Camila. Camila froze and found herself stuttering and a powerful blush made its way to her cheeks again.

 

“You blush a lot. It’s cute.” Lauren smirked when Camila’s cheeks reddened even further. That smirk was far worse than her stare. A good worse.

 

God forbid she do that again, Camila knew she’d be in a constant state of furious blushing and have a temporary inability to speak around this girl. She didn’t know if that was good or bad. And it wasn’t like they’d meet again, they were _strangers_.

 

When she finally got herself under control, Lauren had gently tugged her out of the store by her hands and they were quickly walking to a nearby escalator. Camila stared at their joined fingers. Lauren stared at Camila.

 

“Where are you from?” Camila suddenly asked, trying to subtlety disentangle their fingers from each other. Lauren stubbornly gripped tighter.  

 

“Miami. You?”

 

“North Carolina.”

 

Lauren looked at her with that same thoroughly confused expression before when they were in Typo, and Camila grinned unable to supress it for any longer.

 

“Where are you again?” She asked with an eye roll.

 

It was Lauren’s turn to blush, giggle and hide her face into her hands. Camila couldn’t look away and it stressed her out. Staring’s not supposed to be a polite thing. But Lauren was being so cute she couldn’t help herself. It’s like they weren’t strangers anymore, and it was _weird._

 

“My bad. It was dumb question.” Lauren paused after catching her breath. “Okay, _New Yorker_. Where are _your_ parents?”

 

Lauren did that smirking thing with her face and her eyes again and lost Camila for a few seconds.

 

“Uh- they’re at- uh- well, they are in New York.” She replied, mentally smacking herself for sounding so dumb.

 

Lauren raised an eyebrow. Camila couldn’t decide if that better or worse than the smirk.

 

“They’re at home.” She finally managed to get out.

 

Lauren genuinely looked concerned for her. That was definitely worse than the smirk because she was concerned. For her of all people. A complete stranger.

 

Stranger, she reminded herself. Lauren was a stranger, and you Cam, are helping her out.

 

“They let you wander the streets of New York _, unsupervised_?” Lauren sounded horrified. Camila immediately felt guilty.

 

“They don’t know I’m out.” She said feeling sufficiently remorseful.

 

“How old are you?” Lauren demanded suddenly.

 

“Sixteen.”

 

Why did she say that? She should’ve said she was eighteen or seventeen at least.

 

“Dude, you’re only sixteen. That’s it. We’re bringing you home.” Camila stared at the other girl incredulously.

 

“No way. My parents are at work.”

 

“But you just said that they were home.” Lauren pointed out.

 

Camila felt beyond guilty at this point. Lauren was worrying about her, when she didn’t have any reason to. And Camila wanted to run away. Because she knew she already revealed a lot. And it didn’t help that Lauren seemed genuine.

 

“They’re at work. Working and stuff.” Lauren raised an eyebrow, managing to both look concerned and unimpressed with her.

 

“Look, I know we literally just met, but dude, you’re probably younger than me. It’s much more dangerous here than anywhere else, don’t even try to deny that.”

 

 “How old are you?” Camila shot back, suddenly feeling very defensive.

 

“Seventeen.” Camila raised an eyebrow at that. _She is older_. Damn it Camila, get your shit together. You will not be bossed around by this extremely attractive girl. Okay. Got it? Got it _. Good._

 

“I do this all the time.” She said it so offhandedly that maybe she misjudged what Lauren’s reaction would be. Lauren scoffed and shook her head at her, dark hair flying behind her. Her beanie tilted precariously on her head, and Camila found herself automatically wanting to fix it for her.

 

“We are finding my parents, and my friends and we’re taking a taxi and dropping you off at home because what if some awful, random person kidnapped you or something.” Lauren said not noticing Camila’s internal debate. Camila ducked her head, ashamed under Lauren’s reprimand. She nodded meekly at her almost slip-up.

 

“Come on, I think I smell the food court.”

 

Lauren took Camila’s hand again, squeezed it reassuringly and led her to the general direction of wonderful smells.

…


	2. Interminable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taste-bud revolutions are the greatest, apparently.

“Oh my god, Lauren!”

 

“We were so worried about you.”

 

“I’m sorry about what I said earlier, I promise I didn’t mean it. I was just frustrated, you know?”

 

“Lauren, what the hell?”

 

“Lauren, seriously, never do that again.”

 

“Why are you so dramatic anyway?”

 

“Hey Lo, who’s she?”

 

“Yeah, Laur, she’s pretty.”

 

“Sorry I called tried to talk you into buying a pair of jeans and called you a toad.”

 

“Lauren, I can’t believe you worried us like that.”

 

Camila stopped at the sight of so many people lunging at Lauren. _Whoa._ That was going to be some huge-ass taxi they’d have to take later.

 

“Honey, never do that again, or else we’ll take your car away.” Said a woman, whose facial structure was similar to Lauren’s, probably her mother, she mused.

 

She looked so concerned that Camila felt a little jealous. Her mother never gently rebuked her like that. It was all stern words and hard stares and obvious disappointment that Camila’s emotions went a little haywire after a session of lecturing.

 

Lauren’s eyes widened so comically at her mother’s threat that Camila couldn’t help but giggle. This, naturally, caused everyone’s attention to be brought back to her.

 

“Hi, sweetie.” Lauren’s mother turned her gaze to Camila and Camila didn’t know what to do.

 

“H-hi.”

 

She really needs to stop stuttering when she’s nervous. ‘Weak’ her mother said. It made her seem weak and unreliable if she stuttered. An embarrassment, she’d be told if ever she were to stutter in her mother’s presence. She uncertainly fidgeted with her hands and looked up at them. All their eyes were on her.

 

“I’m Clara, Lauren’s mother.” She gestured at everyone behind her. “That’s my husband, Mike, Lauren’s siblings, Chris and Taylor and Lauren’s friends, Alexa, Ally and Dinah.” She pointed at each person and they all waved back as she said their names.

 

They all seemed generally welcoming and didn’t appear to have a problem with her being there. No hostility at all. Relief flooded through her body in these ridiculous waves that Camila subconsciously gripped Lauren’s hands tighter. Lauren sent her a reassuring squeeze back.

 

“This is Camila. She helped me find the food court.” Lauren said happily swinging their joined hands around whilst she bounced on her heels. The girl whose name was Ally immediately flung herself at Camila, nearly knocking them both over in the process, and hugged her tightly. Camila let out a muffled “oof” when Ally’s body collided into hers.

 

“I’m so glad you saved Lauren. We wouldn’t know if she was okay, otherwise.” Ally told her, voice slightly muffled.

 

Camila, unsure of what to do, awkwardly patted the smaller girl on the back. Lauren giggled and kissed the side of Ally’s head. Camila’s eyes widened in surprise, but noted that everyone looked at the two with smiles, clearly alright or accustomed with the show of affection.

 

To her, affection wasn’t as easily or openly given by her parents or friends, especially in public. It was weird.

 

“I still can’t believe you ran away.” Dinah frowned at Lauren. Lauren guiltily looked away from the darker girl.

 

She was stunning, Camila noted to herself. Actually, all of Lauren’s friends were. Though right away, she couldn’t help but pick out the obvious clash of fabric colours amongst the large group.

 

“I’m sorry for scaring you all. But Camila brought me here.”

 

Camila looked at Lauren, a confused expression apparent on her face. If anything, Lauren led them there. Camila knew that Lauren would’ve been perfectly fine without her ‘help’. It unnerved her to have so many people’s attention all at once.

 

“I’m glad she was there then.” Clara said smiling warmly at Camila. Camila flushed. “We’ve got some food here already but we didn’t get you your tacos, so here’s some money. Take Camila with you, get her something to eat too.”

 

Lauren pulled Camila away, probably still unaware that they had held hands the entirety of Camila’s introduction to her family and friends. But they didn’t seem to mind? It was nice.

 

“Was that awkward?” Lauren asked, suddenly shy. Camila laughed.

 

Shy-Lauren was kind of adorable.

 

“Not really?”

 

“That _was_ awkward!” Lauren exclaimed before giggling and pulling Camila against herself. Lauren’s cashmere scarf brushed against Camila’s cheek and it smelled amazing. It was a mix of eucalyptus and honey. _She freaking loved eucalyptus and honey._

 

“It was a little awkward, I guess?”

 

They continued to walk to what looked like a Mexican food stand and Lauren ordered her tacos. Probably way too much, by the looks of how full she’d loaded her tray. Camila smiled.

 

“Can you believe they ordered food while I was lost in the wilderness?”

 

“Natural selection, I guess.” Camila said, a smile creeping across her face. Lauren pulled a face.

 

“I think that they thought you were still with the others.” Camila said after a thoughtful pause. Lauren laughed.

 

“Go pick something.” Lauren nudged Camila in the ribs, earning a loud yelp and curious stares from other customers. Lauren’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the other girl and an evil-looking grin made its way across her face _. Ah fuck._

 

Now Lauren knows she’s ticklish. For fuck’s sake, Cam. _Get your shit together._

“I swear to god, Lauren, if you do that again I will pour hot sauce down your bra.”

 

“Who says I’m wearing a bra?”

 

Camila blanched.

 

“Girl, I’m just playing, of course I need support.”

 

Lauren laughed so hard that she snorted which eventually got Camila laughing too.

 

“I’ll just have salad.” Lauren raised an eyebrow and then made a face.

 

“You are willingly having salad?”

 

“I like salad!” Camila defended.

 

“I’ll only buy you salad if you eat something like pizza or normal people food.”

 

“Normal-people food?”

 

“Yeah dude, no real teenager eats salad willingly.”

 

“I eat salad!”

 

“You’re obviously not a real teenager then.”

 

“I am so a real teenager.

 

“Shut-up, I’m buying you pizza.”

* * *

 

 

“This pizza tastes awful.” Camila whispered to Lauren. “I feel like I’m eating an interminable triangle of oil.”

 

Alexa snorted. Camila looked at her in surprise, having forgotten that other people were at their table.

 

“You don’t like pizza?” Alexa asked, she sounded concerned. “And what’s ‘interminable’?”

 

“I do like pizza. Teenagers like pizza. I am a teenager. So I like pizza.” Camila said quickly. Then she mentally kicked herself for rambling. “It means, continuous or something.” 

 

“But you don’t like pizza?”

 

“I do?” Camila frowned. The entire table had turned to face her again. Was it because of the pizza? Or because she tried to defend her teenager-ness? She shouldn’t have used interminable. _Damn it_. She should’ve just said oily or something. Cam. Seriously. You are ruining everything.

 

“But you don’t like pizza?” Alexa asked again, sounding more and more distressed at Camila’s confused expression.

 

“Guys, lay off her. So what she doesn’t enjoy pizza as much as you. Only means more pizza for me.” Lauren interjected before Camila could reply. Lauren shot her a quick smile.

 

“Do you like ice-cream, at least?” Ally asked from next to Alexa, sounding as equally concerned as her friend.

 

Camila nodded furiously, feeling kind of offended. _Duh_. Who doesn’t like ice-cream? Only insane people don’t. (Or allergic people, but that’s okay because they can’t choose anyway.) Ice-cream is beautiful.

 

“Do you like fries?”

 

“I don’t have that often, but, they’re good when baked.” She replied taking another tentative bite of her triangle of oil. Ally nodded happily at her answer.

 

“Do you like Twinkies?” Dinah questioned picking around her bowl for prawn and crab bits.

 

“Guys!”

 

Lauren carefully placed her half-finished taco on her tray and glared at her friends, they all shrank back into their seats and turned their attention back to their food. All the while, Lauren’s siblings continued bickering, whilst their mother absentmindedly chided them to stop in between bouts of conversation with her husband.

 

It was all so family-like. And _close_. Camila glanced around again and felt an awful lot like she was intruding.

 

“Sorry.” They all muttered, sounding suitably ashamed. She picked a few pieces of ham off her pizza and settled for eating the mushroom. The mushroom bits tasted familiar to her at least. She didn’t know what the other stuff was – and whatever it was, it tasted like a heart palpitation.

 

“So Camila, have you lived in New York long?” asked Lauren’s father.

 

His name was Mike? She was sure his name was Mike. Please let his name be Mike.

 

“All my life, sir.” He let out a loud, hearty chuckle, surprising Camila enough for her to drop her pizza. Lauren snorted into her taco, Dinah smacked her in the shoulder.

 

“Don’t need to call me, ‘sir.’” He said, eyes twinkling in amusement, lips curved upwards into a smile. Camila found herself blushing again but despite her embarrassment, grinned back at him.

 

“Sorry.” She muttered, cheeks burning.

 

“Lauren, you left your coat with us before. Take it before you freeze.” Clara reached over Mike to hand her daughter a thick, beige coloured coat. Lauren took it gratefully and immediately put it on, making noises of approval.

 

“Oh, dad! We need to take Camz home later.” Lauren added suddenly, midway putting her arm through a sleeve, Ally helpfully guided her other arm through the opposite sleeve. Lauren again, planted a kiss on the top of Ally’s head. Camila bit her lip _. It was so cute._

 

Was Camz meant to be her nickname? She’d never had a nickname before from someone a _friend_. Was that was Lauren was? _A friend_? Because that would be amazing. Camila knew she never had any close friends. Just acquaintances from school or other kids her age that her parents worked with and were forced to spend time with her. Or the random teenagers her parents brought home in the hopes that she’d befriend them. Other than that, there weren’t really any other people she could call _close_. There were two, but they were more like siblings than anything really.

 

“Oh?” Michael asked mid-chew.

 

“You really don’t have to.” Camila said feeling embarrassed again. She picked up her container of salad and took a bite of a carrot and smiled. _Familiarity._

 

“It’s no trouble for us, honey.” Clara interjected from beside her husband.

 

Camila got a little distracted by Lauren’s siblings, both of whom were now preoccupied with loudly arguing over some video game she’d vaguely heard of, but never played. Chris and Taylor? Lauren looked like the middle child and she smiled into her salad because it was kind of adorable.

 

“I can find my own way home. I’ll be okay.” She said sounding more and more like a little kid.

 

“Seriously, we’ll take you home.” Lauren said directly into her ear. Camila found herself agreeing.

 

“Are you eating salad?” Ally asked from next to Lauren, with a wide grin. Camila nodded mouth full of celery and thin slices of beef.

 

“You guys, she likes salad. Just like me.” Ally grinned and Dinah rolled her eyes after picking at her bowl of noodles, whilst Alexa took a long sip of what looked like milkshake.

 

“What kind of salad are you eating, Mila?” Ally asked; her chin leaning on both hands eagerly.

 

 _Mila_? Mila’s kind of nice. She liked it. She liked the nicknames _and_ the attention _and_ Lauren’s entire group. Even though in the back of her mind she knew that they were still complete strangers and that she probably intruded on some personal family outing. She felt a little guilty about that.

 

“Thai beef salad.” She managed to say after swallowing a particularly large forkful.

 

“I’ve never had that before! That sounds so nice. Can I have some?” Ally shot her the most adorable pout she’d ever seen and Lauren outright laughed when Camila held her container out for Ally to sample some.

 

“This. Is. _Amazing_.” Ally said after a few bites, eyes closed in ecstasy.

 

“It’s just salad.” Alexa said with a shrug.

 

“It’s amazing salad, you jealous bean.” Ally huffed going back to her own wrap. Dinah looked amused at Ally’s ‘insult’ but allowed the smaller girl to lean into her side. “It tastes so good, Dinah. It was _so_ beautiful.”

 

Camila grinned and looked at Lauren victoriously.

 

“Oh no. I am not having your nasty salad.” Lauren said eying her container warily.

 

“Just try some. I promise that I don’t have a highly contagious, deathly illness.” Camila said, rolling her eyes.

 

Lauren’s friends laughed. Camila felt strangely proud of herself for being the cause of that. If this is what having friends felt like – light and easy – then she wanted more of them. Or friends like Lauren’s friends.

 

“Only if you’ll give me your number so we can hang out more while I’m here.” Lauren said quickly after a few seconds of careful thinking.

 

“I don’t have a phone.”

 

“That was the fattest lie and everyone here knows it.”

 

There were murmurs of agreement and Camila found herself reluctantly giving in again.

 

“And also, you were totally playing Candy Crush when I asked you for help.”

 

The others laughed again while Dinah was only interested in asking what level she was up to. After programming her number into Lauren’s iPhone, did she place her salad box in front of the green-eyed girl.

 

“Just try the freaking salad, dude.” Ally said, eliciting a chuckle from Dinah.

 

Lauren hesitantly picked up the spare, clean fork from Camila’s salad-bag and poked at the green leaves with a highly suspicious expression. She stabbed at a random bit of beef and green and quickly put it into her mouth, automatically frowning. Then a thoughtful expression crossed her face. And then a sheepish smile.

 

“Is beef allowed to be in salad?” She asked after a few minutes of slow chewing.

 

“Yeah. So is it good?” Ally studied Lauren’s expression. “Oh you like it!” She cheered triumphantly.

 

“You like my ‘nasty salad’?” Camila asked with a smug smile.

 

Lauren only rolled her eyes but Camila knew that meant ‘yes.’

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i am actually an idiot with technology so i may or may not have posted AND deleted this chapter 3 times. yep)  
> IM SORRYYYY


	3. Wandering Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's for the good of mankind.

A familiar ringtone started playing. _Oh no_. Dreading the phone-call from the ringtone alone Camila hesitantly answered.

 

“Hello?” She asked cautiously.

 

 _“Where the hell are you?”_ Camila winced holding the phone away from her slightly holding her phone away from her ear. Whenever her mother called was never a good thing. Nor was whenever she spoke in Spanish. Her mother was most likely not in a chatty mood, she concluded wisely.

 

 “I’m on the way home.” 

 

_“Where?”_

“Mother, I’m nearly there.”

 

_“Are you even in Manhattan?”_

“Madison Avenue.”

 

_“If you’re lying to me–”_

Camila cringed. She snuck a glance at Lauren, who looked at her worriedly. She shot her a reassuring smile. Or what she thought was a reassuring smile, she probably looked terrified.

 

“I’m not.” 

 

_“I’m sending James over there right now.”_

“Are you serious.” Camila’s eyes widened in alarm. _Holy shit_. She’s so dead. Oh god.

 

_“I’m going with him.”_

Camila paused, taking in the new information. Her mother was coming to pick her up. Her mother was coming to pick her up? _She’s dead_. She’s dead and now her mother was going to resurrect her and then metaphorically kill her again. Cam, you will be missed and may your poor soul–

 

 _“Karla, are you still there?”_ She sounded concerned. Camila frowned.

 

“I was with him. He didn’t stick to me.” She replied, blushing slightly.

 

_“I’ll see you later.”_

“Mother–”

 

_“I’ll see you soon.”_

“What–”

 

_“Karla. I love you, and I want you safe, but you are testing my patience.”_

“Just – please – mother.”

 

_“I will see you soon.”_

 

Camila unsurely hung up her phone and Lauren raised an eyebrow at her. She knew right there and then that Lauren understood her side of the conversation because of the look on her face.

 

“That was hot.” Alexa said chewing her burger and shrugging, breaking the awkward silence.

 

“Yeah dude. That Spanish has me all hot and bothered now.” Dinah chimed in with a grin. Ally poked Dinah’s side.

 

Lauren raised an expectant eyebrow at Camila. She looked so concerned for her that Camila couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, partly for worrying her mother and weirdly enough, Lauren.

 

“My mother is picking me up.” Camila said quietly, mostly to Lauren. Ally had pointedly – and loudly – started a conversation with Dinah and Alexa about something – so that Camila and Lauren could have a semblance of privacy.

 

“Really?”

 

Lauren’s impossibly green eyes focussed themselves on her own and Camila did a double take because she could swear that they weren’t that shade a few minutes ago. A trick of the light, she decided.

 

“Yeah. She was,” she paused hesitantly, “upset with me?”

 

“Only a little?” Lauren said, those elegant eyebrows furrowed. Camila wanted to reach out and smooth them out or touch Lauren’s face or something. But it was highly inappropriate. She can’t just go around _touching_ people _. On their attractive faces._ Cam, control yourself, she told herself firmly. _Play it cool, yo._

 

“She was worried.” She continued ducking away from Lauren’s intense gaze. Those eyes could probably see through clothing if Lauren tried hard enough. Camila would totally believe her.

 

“Mhm.”

 

“You don’t need to drop me off after all.” Camila shot her a weak smile. Lauren sighed. Was that disappointment? Camila didn’t dare think beyond that. They were strangers that had the great fortune to meet. And that was it.

 

“I hope your mom isn’t going to be too angry with you, Camz.”

 

Camila forced a grin onto her face and polished off the last of her salad.

 

“She never is.”

 

* * *

 

Camila hurled her bag into a random part of her room and threw herself onto her large, plush bed, groaning in frustration. Her mother was fucking impossible most times. She understood why she was on most occasions but on this one, it was actually really fucking ridiculous.

 

She had met someone (and their friends and family) and genuinely enjoyed their company, but her mother had to ruin it by scaring her away. _Fuck everything._

 

She needed to let her stress out somewhere and wallowing in self-pity in her own mind would simply not cut it for her today. She needed to see other peoples’ angst. She fumbled around her bed searching for her mac, too lazy to stand up and retrieve her iPhone from her purse.

 

It was all so unfair. She understood her mother’s worry, but she didn’t understand why she wasn’t allowed to be independent. For fuck’s sake, she was nearly seventeen. She should be allowed out in public by herself, at least. She was nearly a full adult.

 

Clicking the safari icon, she sighed. A _hh_. Internet at last. Thank god for fast wifi.

 

* * *

 

 

“Karla.” Her mother.

 

“What.”

 

“Don’t be rude, Karla.” Her father this time.

 

He was preoccupied cutting Sofia’s food into little pieces and putting a small amount on her plate at a time. The first time they had fed her solids she had thrown everything on the floor, suffice to say, they had good reason to be wary of her food habits.

 

“I’m not being rude.” Perhaps that came out more snarky than originally intended, but what else was she supposed to say?

 

“You’re allowed to leave the house, but you need to stop wandering off alone. This city is dangerous.” Her father again.

 

“Whatever.”

 

Lectures in Spanish were her absolute favourite – no sarcasm intended. Mostly, they were to the point and quick.  It was usually a painless experience.

 

Camila picked at her food with her knife and fork and then proceeded to cut her lamb cutlets into tiny pieces. She glanced at Sofia, who was concentrating on arranging all her kid-friendly gourmet food on her plate into some obscure animal. _Such an angel._ At least it wasn’t on the floor this time. It was progress. She smiled at her plate.

 

English, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. It meant that they wanted to delve into the finest possible details. Camila wasn’t one for details. She preferred skimming the surface; especially of topics she disliked talking about. She especially disliked when her parents tried to ‘understand’ what she did.

 

“Would you at least tell us where you met that girl?”  Sinuhe arched an eyebrow at her. Camila continued cutting her lamb, delaying her response for as long as possible. “She wasn’t trying to lead you somewhere?”

 

“I met her at the mall, mother.”

 

“You didn’t talk to strangers?”  

 

Camila contemplated on telling her mother that she had secretly joined a gang, but decided against it at the last minute because Sofia’s young ears probably wouldn’t be able to handle all the inevitable shouting. _The sacrifices she made for her sister._

 

“No, mother.” She stabbed her lamb more violently than she intended and it ended up flying off her plate and almost into the centre of the table. Sinuhe pursed her lips. Camila’s eyes widened in mild surprise as she located the little bit of meat on the table.

 

“Good.”

 

The lecture wasn’t there. It was weird. Then again, it had been a really weird day for Camila and she brushed it off.

 

“Did you have fun?” Her father asked, gently prying his fork from Sofia’s little hands. She had somehow managed to steal half his utensils while he was adjusting his napkin. Camila was very impressed with her younger sister.

 

“I always have fun.” She muttered, pointedly taking a large bite to show that she couldn’t talk.

 

“That’s very good then.” He told her prying his spoon  from his younger daughter. “See, Sofi? Camila has fun and so do you.” He playfully poked the toddler’s nose, eliciting a squeal of delighted laughter.

 

They all smiled into their plates at Sofia’s giggle.

 

It was fun.

* * *

 

 

Lauren was quiet for the rest of the night. And it was really strange to Alexa, Ally and Dinah – and her family, of course – because Lauren was hardly ever ‘quiet’.

 

“What’s up with you, girl?” Dinah asked. She was seated on the bathroom floor, nail polish bottles scattered around her; Alexa quietly assisting with the mani-pedi.

 

Lauren was lying on her stomach, on the queen-sized bed half-heartedly scrolling through Tumblr again. The girl was about as subtle as a hand grenade with her emotions, and tonight was no exception.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“Did you also forget that you’re a horrible liar?” Ally prodded Lauren in the side, and the girl swatted her hand away.

 

“Nothing’s wrong, I’m just tired.” She muttered continuing to scroll.

 

“Then sleep.” Ally said matter-of-factly.

 

“I’m not sleepy. _I’m tired_.” She told them rolling her eyes. They were two completely different things.

 

Dinah and Alexa exchanged a look.

 

“Why be all down, first night in the big apple? We are gon’ party up in this joint. ” Alexa said filing her nails.

 

“Lexa, that was the furthest from gangstah hood you’ll ever go.” Dinah said between shocked giggles. Alexa threw her nail file at the taller girl.

 

“Oh please, like you know what gangstah hood is.”

 

Dinah hurled a clean cotton ball at Alexa’s face with spectacular accuracy.

 

“I’ll have you know that I was born gangstuh.” Dinah announced blowing a strand of hair out of face. Ally and Alexa looked at her pointedly.

 

“What gangstuh says ‘I’ll have you know’?”

 

“Laaaaaaau-ren.” Ally sing-songed over Alexa and Dinah’s bickering. Ally’s vibrato was amazing most of the time. But tonight was one of those times where Lauren knew that that vibrato meant no good things.

 

“Ally stop.”

 

“Laaaaaaaaaaau-ren.”

 

“Don’t come near me.”

 

Alexa and Dinah continued bickering over nail polish colours this time, already aware of Lauren’s impending fate.

 

“Oh no.” Ally looked up at Lauren, flicked her hair over her shoulder and sighed dramatically. “There’s something very wrong.” She told her seriously.

 

“Stop lying.”

 

“My hands feel all tingly, Lauren. They’re itchin’ all over.” Lauren’s eyes widened. She immediately sat up straight, arms out in front, assuming a ‘defensive’ position.

 

“Ally, I swear…”

 

“Won’t you help me figure out what’s wrong with them? Aren’t you my friend?” Ally pouted.

 

“No!”

 

“I’m sorry Lauren Jauregui. You are subject to a dose of tickling.” Ally paused. “Because you suck at lying.” She paused again. “And because you’re not paying an adequate amount of attention to me.”

 

Even though the taller girl was ‘prepared’ for it, Ally moved too quickly for her and was surprisingly strong for someone so tiny. She jumped on Lauren’s back and had her arms pinned to her sides using her strong legs before Lauren could blink. She was screwed and everyone knew it.

 

“Uncle!” She shouted, voice muffled by the fluffy pillows.

 

“Doctors’ orders, my dear.”

 

“Ally, no!” Her voice cracked slightly and Dinah and Alexa only looked on with amusement.

 

“But I haven’t even started.” Ally told her helpfully. She suddenly jabbed her in the ribs with incredible preciseness and Lauren uselessly squirmed underneath her.

 

“Please!”

 

“It’s for the good of mankind.”

 

Ally’s extremely skilled fingers gently brushed over the side of Lauren’s head and grazed the girl’s cheeks and ears lightly and came to rest on the sides of Lauren’s flushed face. Ally grinned victoriously. Lauren had always been ridiculously ticklish. The taller girl furiously squirmed underneath Ally, but Ally held her own, all the while, Lauren had begun giggling hysterically despite no tickling occurring yet.

 

“Ally – oh my god – stop – I can’t – I will pee on you – Ally!”

 

“Shh, my sweet.”

 

“Ally, you sound like a murderer.” Alexa called from where she was seated. Dinah mhm’d.

 

Ally’s fingers mercilessly dug into Lauren’s sides and randomly poked until she felt the taller girl’s ribcage. _Aha_. This was the sweet spot. This was where Lauren would be at her absolute mercy. And it had been that way since Lauren was six and Ally discovered how to jump on people.

 

“Ally – no!”

 

“Do you promise not to lie to us ever again?”

 

“Y-yes! I p-p-promise!”

 

Ally stilled her movements; legs still firmly locked around Lauren’s arms and heavily slumped on top of her. Lauren groaned at the sudden weight.

 

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

 

“I was going to pee on you.” Lauren muttered breathlessly. Ally did that cute giggling thing she always does.

 

“Girl, you do physics. That ain’t how it works.” Dinah called pointing her nail file at the both of them, feral grin in place. Alexa mhm’d.

 

“And the important thing is that you didn’t.” Ally said sweetly, patting the back of Lauren’s head. Lauren groaned again.

 

“I hate you.” Lauren managed to get out between gasps and clenched teeth.

 

“Aw, sweetie, we love you too.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me if you guys like this.  
> (i dont mind if it's like a random smiley face or a picture of an elephant or s/t, just some indication that i'm doing okay.)


	4. Coordinated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are shoes, an art gallery and falling over.

Camila was bored.

 

She was only watching Sofia for an hour, and then her sister would be brought to her usual playgroup. Whilst she kept an eye on the toddler, she was rearranging her colossal shoe collection according to season, style and designer, in her wardrobe. Meanwhile, her sister was happily drawing on a massive sheet of what was initially, plain white A1 paper, in the middle of her room’s floor. As long as she didn’t get any crayon on the floor, Camila was perfectly fine with the mess.  But, the hour was nearly up and Sofia would have to actually leave and Camila would be alone for the rest of the day.

 

She distractedly wondered if Sofi actually enjoyed playgroup, because from her own childhood recollections, Camila herself never did. The other kids weren’t cruel in the ‘traditional’ sense, more so over the fact that Camila herself wasn’t as clear-cut and straightforward as the rest of them. She was such a troublemaker that she needed to have a nanny stay over while she was at playgroup _because_ she was such a handful for her teachers. _Fond memories indeed._

 

On top of being thoroughly bored, she also didn’t have any close friends that were currently in New York to invite over to ‘hang out’ or whatever people did. They were all off somewhere and most wouldn’t be back til tomorrow. Added to that, her parents had made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t allowed to leave the apartment without a chaperone. _What was a girl to do?_

 

“Sofia no – don’t put that – no, baby no – that’s not for eating – please don’t put it in your mouth.” Camila sighed, having to drop her favourite pair of flats and gently remove the crayon from her sister’s waiting mouth. How the little two-year-old girl had managed to convince their parents to buy her a Crayola 200-Piece Masterworks Art Case when she could barely feed herself was beyond anyone’s logic.

 

 Sofia began whining. Camila frowned and raised an eyebrow at the youngest Cabello.

 

“You are not allowed to get poisoned when I’m babysitting you.” She said trying to sound stern.

 

Sofia turned her big, dark eyes on her older sister and proceeded to glare at her. Camila bit her lip; those huge eyes usually got the younger girl whatever she wanted, especially from their typically unwavering parents. _Be strong_ , she told herself. Sofia is not allowed to eat crayons.

 

“I can’t believe you want to eat crayons.” Camila said with a sigh, hiding a smile.

 

Sofia squawked something incoherent in her childish two-year-old English, while Camila pretended to understand. She was grateful that at least her sister hadn’t gotten any crayon marks on her wool tweed Ralph Lauren jumper dress. It would be a nightmare trying to find another outfit because Sofia was unreasonably picky, and their mother would be furious if she ever found out.

 

Then her thoughts brought her back to two days before; when she had met Lauren and her family. Camila absentmindedly wondered if they’d somehow meet again. She quickly brushed that thought away. _Ha_. A city of eight-point-two million? _Yeah right they’d see each other again_. Added to the fact that she was now to be chaperoned everywhere and would therefore not be allowed to travel alone. _Fat fucking chance._

 

Sofia padded over to the entrance of her closet where Camila was sitting cross-legged holding a shoe in each hand, reached out and patted her cheek, huge, dark eyes looking at her with curiosity and lip jutted out into an endearing frown as she rambled on about her drawing. Camila sighed. _This kid with her rosy cheeks and puppy eyes._

 

“I have no idea what you’re saying, baby girl.” Sofia scrunched up her face and Camila’s heart nearly melted _._

_Be strong_.

 

Her phone started ringing.

 

“You’re calling me again?”

 

“Karla, have you stayed indoors all day?” She sounded concerned, Camila mused with a small, involuntary smile. “Have you eaten?”

 

“It’s not even noon yet. But, yes.”  An exasperated sigh from her mother.

 

“You’re allowed to leave the apartment, darling, you know that.” A pause. And then some paper shuffling. “Sofia is getting picked up soon.”

 

“I know.”

 

“You have school in two days.”

 

“I know.”

 

“I’ve already asked Dionne to collect your things.”

 

Speaking of Dionne, the woman appeared in her room suddenly and picked Sofia off the floor trying to coax the girl into her kid-size toggle trench coat. Sofia glared at them both. Camila laughed, but kissed her sister’s cheek goodbye, over the outraged whining and indignant squeaks.

 

“Sofia’s going to playgroup now.” She told her mother. “Oh. And Thank you.”

 

Camila set the phone down on a shelf and put it on loudspeaker so she could continue rearranging her shoes. She had already finished ordering her heels and flats according to season and style, leaving her sneakers, running shoes and boots til last. Not that she ever voluntarily went running, but she had the shoes anyway.

An awkward silence. Camila picked up her pair of Manolo Blahnik heels and absentmindedly tried them on. She’d only worn them twice because she, like her mother, literally had a pair of shoes to go with every outfit she owned. Perks of having a mother in the fashion industry, she mused sarcastically.

 

“Darling, you know why I’m so concerned about you leaving the house by yourself.”

 

“Mother, don’t.”

 

“You know how dangerous the city is, and a girl your age –”

 

“ _I know_.”

 

Another heavy sigh and a deep inhale.

 

“I need to get back to work. I’ll call you later. Please find something, other than continuing to rearrange your shoes, to do.”

 

“But I wasn’t –”

 

“Karla.”

 

“Okay, fine, I was but–”

 

“I’ll see you later.”

 

Camila sighed. She was so bored. She checked the time on her phone. It was barely ten o’clock. The hell, she thought she spent longer in her closet.

 

The teenager distractedly wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

 

“Holy Jesus, _don’t do that_ Dionne.” She yelled suddenly when the woman appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She put a hand to her chest, breathing heavily _. God._

 

“I am so sorry, Miss Cabello.” The woman said, looking genuinely apologetic. “I thought you heard me come back in.”

 

“Whatever.” Camila pursed her lips. “Do we have any yoghurt? Or something?” She asked impatiently. She was, for some reason, feeling very exasperated that day.

 

“Not at the moment. I’ll get James to pick some up if you want.” Dionne said helpfully. “By the way, here’s your uniform and school things.”

 

“Never mind that.” Camila sighed and by habit, glanced at her phone again. Then her eyes narrowed suspiciously on her school things. “Is that homework?”

 

“I’m afraid so.”

 

“ _Ew_.”

 

“I agree.” Dionne looked at her. “Do you need anything else?”

 

“Is there anything to do? Like at all?” Camila asked, voice bordering on a whine.

 

“There’s a fairly new musical around one, on Broadway. I’ve heard that it’s good. A few art galleries in Manhattan have new pieces and artists.” Dionne said after a few seconds of thoughtful silence. “You could always go shopping.”

 

“That is boring and dull _and_ not the only thing I do well.” Camila told the woman pointedly at her last suggestion. Dionne blushed.

 

“Sorry, Miss Cabello.”

 

“Whatever.” Camila glanced at her school things. “Will you bring these to my room?”

 

* * *

 

“Can you believe these shoes were only ninety dollars?” Ally asked, still in apparent disbelief, tightly gripping onto Alexa’s arm, somehow managing to bounce up and down in her brand new heels, _whilst_ seated. Alexa winced. _Damn, Ally was strong._

 

“What do you mean ‘only’ ninety bucks, what is with you?” Alexa shook the smaller girl off and held up a scarf, trying to rub her arm without anyone else seeing. Lauren sniggered because she knew Lexa’s pain.

 

“This was like, six dollars.” She stuck her chin out. “Suck it.”

 

“Shut up, Lexa.” Lauren cut in before Ally could begin squealing over their clothes again.

 

“You’re crazy for buying those shoes, Ally.” Dinah this time. Alexa mhm’d. Ally frowned.

 

“They’re cute shoes, Ally-cat.” Lauren said with a reassuring smile. Dinah playfully scoffed.

 

“Where’re your parents, Lo?” Alexa asked, picking up a menu and looking over the choices, pulling a face because who voluntarily eats ‘a side of Brussels sprouts’?

 

Lauren shrugged. She hadn’t seen her parents at breakfast before. Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen Chris or Taylor either. It was lunchtime now and she wondered where they were. Her parents were probably shopping or something similar. Knowing Chris and Taylor as well as she did, they were most likely still holed up in their shared hotel room asleep or fighting over the TV remote.  _Typical._

 

They’d only been in New York for a week and she was already somewhat familiar with the streets near her hotel. She was kind of proud of herself for that. True, the sole reason why she was in New York was to do one of those Tumblr meet ups and hopefully befriend a few new people, if they weren’t creepy. But, she was really there to take in the beautiful city and of course, go shopping.

 

Having a well-known blog was sometimes a good thing. Also, having parents that didn’t mind travelling was another bonus.

 

“I can’t believe you got proposed to, Laur.” Ally said suddenly with a teasing smile. Alexa suddenly cheered loudly and waved her menu in the air, earning herself a few glares from the other hotel patrons. 

 

“I can totally believe she got proposed to. I mean, have you seen the girl’s face?” Dinah interjected, reaching over the table to hold Lauren’s face in both hands and playfully squish her blushing cheeks together. “Look at these cheekbones.”

 

Lauren pulled a very unamused expression and the others only laughed.

 

“How many marriage proposals this time, Lexa?” Dinah asked, continuing to poke Lauren’s face. Lauren grunted.

 

“I think four today.” Alexa replied with a laugh. Ally grinned. Dinah smirked at Lauren’s blush. “Our girl knows what’s up.” She teased. If possible, Lauren turned redder.

 

“Get it girl.” Dinah let go of Lauren’s face and smiled at her affectionately. “Have you thought about that offer, by the way?” She asked more seriously.

 

“What offer?” Ally asked looking confused.

 

“The modelling contract.” Alexa told her.

 

“ _Ohhhh_.” 

 

“Yep.” Dinah said, popping the p. “Have you?”

 

Lauren groaned. She hadn’t thought about it all. _It was modelling_. She never considered something like that, ever. It didn’t sound like such a bad idea, to be honest. But she wasn’t passionate about it. She didn’t want to go after something she wasn’t really into. It would be silly, otherwise.

 

“I wasn’t seriously thinking about it.” Lauren said, suddenly finding her fingers fascinating. She needed to get her nails done again. The polish was beginning to come off at the edges.

 

“Why not?” Alexa asked incredulously.

 

“It’s _modelling_ , Alexa.” Lauren said with a laugh. “I don’t know – I’d rather take photos, y’know?”  

 

“Dude, are you serious.” Alexa again. “I would so kill to be you right now.”

 

“Is that Chris over there?” Ally asked cutting into their conversation, scanning the restaurant reception area trying to look for a welcome distraction, deciding that Lauren was feeling more than a little awkward and it helped that the guy actually did look like Chris.

 

Lauren turned around to see where her friend was looking _. It was Chris_. At least he was dressed in presentable clothing this time. About two days ago, he literally came down into the hotel lobby in his superman boxers and singlet. Lauren had never been more embarrassed in her life.

 

“Yep.”

 

Dinah and Alexa started waving him over and he did a little half-jog, half-walk to them, a sheepish expression on his face and sat down heavily in the free seat next to Alexa.

                                                                                                                                

“Where are mom, dad and Taylor?” Lauren immediately asked as soon as her brother was within earshot.

 

“Parents are out; I think they wanted to visit a few galleries near Central Park and Taylor’s getting changed.”

 

He leaned back into his chair with a satisfied smile and waved to the rest of Lauren’s friends. They all happily waved back.

 

“So Taylor’s coming down for lunch with us?” Chris nodded and Alexa handed him her menu. He looked over it for a second or two and immediately pulled a face upon seeing the Brussels sprouts.

 

“Hey, remember that chick you met when you ran away?” Chris asked, raising an eyebrow. Lauren’s eyes widened, but she nodded anyway, hearing her friends giggle. Ally waved Taylor over from the entrance.

 

“She was so _hot_.” He nodded and grinned, Lauren and Taylor simultaneously rolled their eyes, and Lauren’s friends stifled their laughter at their similarity.

 

“Ugh. Chris.” Lauren threw her napkin at him and he broke down into hysterical giggles. “Are you high?” She asked sarcastically.

 

“Nope.” He grinned, his eyes crinkling. “You’re finally out of the room.” He added after Taylor had settled into a chair.

 

“I would’ve gotten here faster if you hadn’t hidden my makeup and straightener.” Taylor glared at him.

 

“You are such a dick-hole.” Lauren told him rolling her eyes. Ally, Alexa and Dinah laughed into their plates.

 

“It wasn’t my fault she finished the hot water.” Chris said matter-of-factly. Lauren turned her gaze onto Taylor. Taylor visibly shrunk back into her seat. The girl was notorious for finishing the hot water; Lauren understood her brother’s pain well.

 

“Laur, Dinah and Alexa are going shopping with Chris and me later.” Taylor said, choosing to change the subject. She stole a scallop off her brother’s plate and he scowled at her.

 

“What about Ally?” Lauren looked at her shorter friend and Ally pulled a face.

 

“I want to go to the art galleries.” Ally said with a wistful sigh. “And none of them want to come with me.” She made a face at Dinah and Alexa, both were wearing exasperated frowns.

 

“You can be hipster with her at those things.” Chris said enthusiastically. Lauren threw him a dirty look. _Hipster be damned._

 

“Fine. I’ll go with Ally. Just make sure you’re all back here by four.”

 

* * *

 

“I want to live here.”

 

Silence.

 

“I want to get married in this place and christen my babies with the paint fumes.”

 

More silence.

 

Ally turned around and Lauren was walking a good five meters behind her, mesmerised by the pieces. Ally totally didn’t blame her; the place was completely gorgeous; what with its minimalist interior and simple, yet complex artwork hanging in seemingly random areas. Ally knew better, this whole building was a work of genius. Lauren was in love.

 

“Lauren.”

 

Camila stood up straight searched the corridor curiously. Lauren – that girl she met a few days ago? No, it couldn’t be. There are other people called Lauren. She sighed heavily.

 

“Lauren!”

 

There it was again. But surely, the same Lauren she had met wouldn’t be in the same art gallery as her? That would a huge fucking coincidence considering that –

 

“Shit – sorry! I didn’t see you – oh my god – are you okay?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when i said i'd update the other day i totally lied


	5. Happy Accidents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The view is perfect from where she is.

Camila found that the hard, wooden floor – probably bruising her butt – was far more comfortable than staring into those intense green eyes again. As annoyingly cliché as it was, Camila would recall that moment as only the two of them in a weird silent bubble, whilst everything around them was a blur.

 

“Ally!” Lauren scolded not breaking eye contact. Camila then noticed another smaller figure from her peripheral vision. One that was apologising profusely. _Ally?_ “Are you alright?” Lauren asked her worriedly, eyes momentarily scanning the rest of her body for injuries. Camila shook her head ‘yes’ unsure of what to do, a fierce blush making its way across her face. She only ever blushed around Lauren and it annoyed Camila.

 

“Miss Cabello, are you okay?” James moved quickly to help her onto her feet and had already picked her bag up from the floor. Camila nodded, eyes focussed on Lauren’s again, still in a slight daze. Though, she wasn’t sure if it was from being knocked over or the confirmation that Lauren was indeed there. Her Lauren from the day at the mall. _Her Lauren?_

 

Lauren elbowed Ally’s side, turning away from Camila to raise a questioning eyebrow at her friend, who was blushing furiously, her feet shuffling.

 

“Yes, I’m fine. Whatever.” She waved James off and took her bag with a sigh.

 

“I’m really sorry about that.” Ally rubbed the back of neck sheepishly and stared at her high-heeled feet. Lauren raised an elegant eyebrow at the smaller girl. Camila forgot how attractive that look was.

 

“It’s okay, it was an accident.” Camila told her with an easy smile. She wasn’t sure if she wanted it to be. _Lauren was actually here._

 

Which was also really weird because they don’t know each other beyond what they had gathered from their last encounter, but there’s a strange familiarity there that Camila’s unsure what to do with. But she knows she wants more than that. A friendship, perhaps.

 

Maybe.

 

“Why were you walking so aggressively anyway?” Lauren asked her friend, managing to sound both amused and worried.  “You’re so tiny.”

 

“I was not walking aggressively.” Ally huffed, seeming offended at Lauren’s insinuation. Camila involuntarily smiled to herself at their banter. “I was checking to see where you were – because you were really far behind okay – and then I bumped into Camila.” Ally looked at Camila, a ridiculously endearing frown forming on her pretty face. “I’m really sorry.”

 

“It’s fine.” Camila told her again, trying her best to inject sincerity into her words. Apparently it worked because Ally looked visibly relieved. She ran her free hand through her hair and pointedly indicated with her eyes at James for him to give them some privacy. He reluctantly left after a little glaring match.

 

He could be such an irritating shit sometimes, but she loved him.

 

Once he was safely out of earshot, but still within view, Camila turned back with an embarrassed smile, “sorry about that. He’s a little overprotective sometimes.”

 

He really was. James made a good companion most of the time but he was at least double Camila’s age and was always unconditionally kind.  

 

“Y’all aren’t siblings then?” Ally asked looking between Camila and James curiously. Camila giggled lightly. _Siblings indeed_.

 

Ally’s mistake was a plausible one. (Also, one that was often made by people she’d just met.) What with James and Camila’s similar jawline and cheekbones, their facial structure looked more or less identical. But they weren’t related in the least. He was literally, just her driver-slash-chaperone-slash-bodyguard.

 

“Not really.” She answered. It was vague, she knew that, but she didn’t want to scare them off a second time. Not while she was playing by her mother’s unreasonable rules.

 

“It’s nice to see you again.” Lauren said after a few seconds of awkward silence.

 

“Um – uh – it’s really nice to see you too.” Camila mentally kicked herself. She was incoherent again. _It was so freaking annoying_. Especially since it only ever happened around Lauren. Camila swore a few times in her head before clearing her throat. “D-do you like New York so far?”

 

Lauren nodded enthusiastically, Ally smiling along with her. “The city is beautiful during winter.”

 

“Are you guys going home soon?”

 

A pause.

 

Camila knew she shouldn’t have asked that. It was personal information. She must’ve sounded like a complete nut asking about things like that without thinking – _damn it_ – why did she even open her –

 

“We leave in two days.” Ally told her sounding sad. Lauren squeezed Ally’s hand, Camila’s eyes automatically followed their movement, watching on with what was strangely; envy. “I love this city. You’re really lucky to actually live here, you know.”

 

Camila shrugged, not able to take her eyes off their now entwined fingers, wondering if Lauren’s fingers would fit her hands as well as did look in Ally’s.

 

“I know.”

 

She’d lived in New York her entire life; of course she’d gone to other states and overseas more often that the average teenager but she wouldn’t trade this place for the best ice-cream in the world. And she had tasted the best ice-cream in the world.

 

Another pause.

 

“Sorry.”

 

“Why are you sorry?” Lauren asked, head tilted slight to the right, sounding more than a little concerned and managing to look like a little kid. Camila wondered how she did that.

 

“Sorry you guys have to go so soon.” Camila told her sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. Camila internally smacked herself being unable to think straight.

 

Lauren blushed. “Me too.”  Lauren looked up to catch Camila’s gaze again and those overly expressive green eyes bore through hers with something that Camila couldn’t quite place a finger on; but it was there. She didn’t know whether she held her breath so as not to ruin the moment or if Lauren’s beauty literally took her breath away.

 

Ally cleared her throat, quietly observing possibly the most awkward social interaction she’d ever seen. And Lauren was the furthest from awkward teenager than anyone she’d ever met. “Do you have to leave the gallery soon?” She asked directing her question at Camila. Camila blanked for a second.

 

Camila and Lauren both turned to face the shorter girl, momentarily forgetting they weren’t alone and smiled sheepishly.

 

“Not really?” Camila replied, her answer sounding more like a question.

 

“Well… Do you want to hang out?” Ally asked excitedly. Lauren threw her friend a horrified look.

 

“Are you sure? I mean – there’s lots to do here – you don’t really need me –”

 

“Oh but we do need you. Mila, please?” That pout again.

 

Once Camila had ‘reluctantly’ agreed, she had to convince James that Ally and Lauren weren’t serial killers. Or psychopaths. _Or stalkers_. But that didn’t take very long, considering she had decided to pull an Alejandro and threaten his job.

 

* * *

 

 

“We’ve already been to Central Park and both the subway and Grand Central Station.” Ally recounted to Camila with a thoughtful expression.

 

Ally loved Central Park _and_ Grand Central. She would probably love whatever New York would have to offer them to be honest. Camila was now informing them about how it was near her house and how ridiculously packed it was all the time. But the experience was definitely _something_. Camila had giggled at Lauren’s miffed expression about the bustling crowds and Ally’s insistence on going there again to take pictures of the renowned ceiling – something that had completely slipped Ally’s mind – but she knew Lauren well, and that meant Lauren would be perfectly up to exploring Grand Central a second time. Camila began rapidly rattling off random bits of information about the different railway tracks and where they intersected via the shoe-stores that were nearby, Ally was immediately stumped and Lauren’s eyebrows were constantly furrowing and rising in according to Camila’s speech. Lauren, Ally knew, was not one for listening to instructions or long guidelines; she was more adventurous than their other friends gave her credit for. Ally also knew that Camila was well versed fashion-wise, her clothes said it all, and so it came as no surprise the way Camila told them about the New York via her perspective of where the best clothing stores were. Besides, watching the almost unnoticeable lost expression in Lauren’s features made Ally’s eyebrow quirk every now and then. She was pretty sure that that expression had been there since the day they all met Mila. She totally didn’t blame Lauren then, Camila was an exceptionally attractive person.

 

“We’ve obviously been to Madison Avenue, because that’s where I – _we_ – met you.” Lauren recalled subtlety glancing at Camila out of the corner of her eye, just managing to school her features when Ally raised yet another questioning eyebrow in her direction. Ally knew Lauren inside and out, and subtlety was not her strongest suit.

 

Camila shrugged, seeming shy and then nodded. “It has good stores.”

 

“I don’t know where else to explore in New York.” Lauren said after a few seconds of more tense silence. She was staring at Camila again, Ally noting this immediately, Camila completely oblivious because she was absentmindedly playing with her manicured fingers. Ally wholly doubted that Lauren even realised she was just blatantly staring at their new companion.

 

“There’s the library – that place is beautiful – and the Statue of Liberty – pretty view.” Camila added running a hand through her hair.

 

“That’s awesome because Lauren loves books!” Ally paused. “And also towers!”

 

Lauren shut her eyes in embarrassment. Oh my god, Allyson _why_.

 

“That’s great because I love books too.” Camila agreed. “The view at the top of the statue never ceases to amaze me.”

 

* * *

 

Lauren found herself at the top of the Statue of Liberty looking down onto New York City. The chilly breeze that blew over them made her shiver, but Camila was right. The view is totally worth getting frozen for. Using her camera, she managed to snap a decent picture of the ocean and the sunset over Ally’s back. The smaller girl was leaning precariously against the railing and curiously looking at the distance between them and the ground. Normally, Lauren would be more worried about her friend’s safety, but there was something inherent about this moment that needed to be captured. It wasn’t the way the fading sunlight hit Ally’s golden-brown hair and made it shine a little more coppery than usual, or the way Ally’s silhouette on the ground made her seem twice as tall than she actually is. It must’ve been the little shiver of delight at knowing Camila was there, and the only giveaway in the image was the second feminine silhouette next to Ally’s.

 

“Lauren, seriously, come look at this.” Ally called from where she stood, still perilously leaning over the railing. Lauren immediately walked over and gently gripped Ally’s waist from behind, secured her there, satisfied that Ally wasn’t just going to topple over, and peered intently over her shoulder.

 

_Oh._

 

It was so beautiful. She snapped another photo using her left hand, her right hand still gripping Ally’s waist, not caring that half of it was Ally’s back and that it was a tiny bit lopsided. Lauren knew it encapsulated the moment perfectly, even though, image-wise, that wasn’t her best photo.

 

“Do you like it?” A voice asked next to her. Lauren turned to her right.

 

“I love it.” Lauren breathed with a happy sigh. Camila smiled brightly forgetting for a second that she was easily recognisable and allowed herself to be hugged into Lauren’s side.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY I WAS ON A VACATION (in this random place - not rly random, just a lil far - in the middle of australia that u guys probs wont rly care about but was v fun) AND OTHER THAN THAT HELLO SORRY FOR LATE UPDATE


	6. Spotted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "This was going to be one hell of a ride."

Camila stepped out of her shower, hair darkened slightly by the water and fresh-faced. She grabbed a fluffy white towel from the towel rack and patted herself off, giving her hair a chance to drip all over the tiles, taking care not to slip over in the process. She huffed, after glancing around her bathroom, _too foggy_. She had forgotten to turn the fan on in her excitement to take a shower.

 

Wrapping the large towel around herself, she poked her head out of the bathroom doorway to make sure no one was around and quickly darted into her room at top speed. _Nothing like sneaking into your parents’ bathroom when you run out of hair conditioner._

 

“Camila!”

 

Camila froze. She glanced at her wall; 8:47 pm. _No freaking way_. Her parents couldn’t be home this early. And if they were, someone must’ve died or something. She plopped onto her large bed ungracefully and rubbed droplets of water out of her face.

 

“Camila!”

 

There it was again. No way could it be her parents, though it sounded an awful lot like her mother. Camila shook her head to make sure water wasn’t clogging her ears.

 

“Camila!”

 

Her door burst open and Camila was grateful she had been sitting her bed; otherwise she would’ve dropped her towel in surprise.

 

“There you are.”  Her mother sighed with relief. “I was calling your phone, darling.”

 

“I was in the shower.” Camila told her, running a hand through her still wet hair. “Why’d you call?” Camila tightened her towel around her and carefully crossed her legs, wary of her obvious nudity.

 

“You were seen!”

 

She couldn’t tell whether her mother was annoyed or excited. Or a mixture of both.

 

Apprehensively, she asked, “I was?”

 

Sinuhe nodded and then said, “I had my assistant keep it contained.”

 

Camila bit her lip. If her mother ever found out about Lauren, Sinuhe would probably try to keep Camila locked up forever. No no no she loved her ‘freedom’. She’d take what she was given.

 

“I’m sorry.” Camila finally said. She glanced at her mother who was still standing at her doorway. With her faultless, well-cut business suit, five-inch Christian Louboutins clad feet, slim figure and perfect hair, Camila could see why her mother was such an intimidating figure. Even her make-up was still flawless and she just got back from a full day of work.

 

“Oh, baby. It’s okay.” Sinuhe rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Camila’s towel-clad body. Camila absentmindedly wondered if her mother cared if her clothes got wet.

 

Ooh. This was weird. Good weird. Her mother hardly initiated any sort of physical contact, so Camila’s frozen state was understandable. But holy shit was it weird.

 

“How’d your assistant find my pictures?” Camila asked; voice slightly muffled against her mother’s shoulder.

 

Camila, Lauren and Ally had to part ways around four because apparently they had to meet their group and were already running late. Camila had spent a good three hours with them, since she’d been aimlessly wandering around the surrounding art galleries with James for an hour, until Ally literally ran into her.

 

“I have my resources.” Sinuhe kissed the top of her head and focussed her dark eyes on Camila’s own. “I was the one that wanted you to leave the house. It wasn’t your fault. I’m glad you had fun, darling.” She told her sincerely.

 

Camila ducked her head shyly and beamed.  

 

“James will drop you off at school on Monday.” Sinuhe told her with an apologetic smile. Camila nodded, smile faltering slightly.

 

It wasn’t a huge deal. She was used to it. Her parents were incredibly busy people, she was lucky to occasionally have dinner with them while she was on break. Sofia was lucky in a way, because the little girl got dropped off by their mother or father every so often at her playgroup. It kind of sucked that she her parents weren’t around as often as she’d like to admit.

 

“I need to edit something for the drafting tomorrow.” Her mother stood from Camila’s queen-sized bed and brushed a strand of damp hair out of her daughter’s eye. “Dinner and dessert’s in the oven if you’re hungry later.”

 

Camila smiled. “Okay.”

 

Once her mother left the room, Camila proceeded to get changed into her night clothes, consisting of dark blue Peter Alexander thermal leggings and a heavy cable-knit Ralph Lauren sweater, paired with her bedroom shoe-socks. She couldn’t help if everything she owned happened to be designer. Though, she always wondered if un-branded clothing were any different. Her mother would probably smack her silly, what with her fashion magazine editor job and by extension her personal relationships with designers and models. Yep. Camila decided it would not be a very wise move at all.

 

She dragged the box full of her school books across her room and dumped the textbooks on her hard-glass desk with a grimace. _So many freaking books_. Her winter break homework wasn’t really homework; it was just reading and very light note-taking, with the occasional seemingly difficult question to answer. Their teachers, all too familiar with students leaving the country whenever the opportunity came and so didn’t assign anything of particular importance unless it was necessary. 

 

But homework was homework and Camila was supposed to get it done one way or another. She opened her maths textbook, flipping to the pre-calculus section and answered a review question with relative ease. She’d leave chemistry til last because that would be like intentionally asking for pain.

 

Maths was her own.

 

* * *

 

 

“You don’t need to bring all the free hotel stuff with you, Ally.” Lauren told her friend exasperatedly after Ally had dumped another three shampoo bottles into her bag, on top of her painfully neatly folded clothes.

 

“It would be rude to leave it. It’s like not eating food someone made especially for you.” Ally said matter-of-factly. Lauren sighed. Leave it to Ally to be nice to hotel products.

 

“Yo, we leavin at for the airport in approximately sixteen hours.” Dinah said, poking her head through their connecting doors.

 

“Make sure you’ve got a scarf this time, Ally!” Alexa yelled from her and Dinah’s shared room. Ally had forgotten to wear a scarf on the way to New York and as an unfortunate result, gotten a head-cold for the first two days of their trip.

 

Lauren pointedly looked at her shorter friend who was still packing everything in sight in a wild frenzy. Lauren meanwhile, was lazily sprawled on top of her bed responding to anonymous messages on her blog in lieu of actually starting her own packing. Packing sucked.

 

“Laur, you have to start packing or else you’re going to have to wake up at like four in the morning tomorrow.” Ally said stuffing yet another bottle of complementary bathroom product into her dangerously full suitcase.

 

“I literally only need to put my toothbrush and pyjamas in my bag in the morning.”

 

“What about your mac?” Ally leapt onto the top of her bag and deflated when she realised that her own body weight didn’t make a difference in closing it in the slightest.

 

“I’m bringing it in my carry-on luggage.” Lauren said not looking up from her phone. Ally hopped off her suitcase again and then jumped back on it with more force _. Still nothing._ Lauren could hear the random thumps but she had put it down to Ally throwing more things in her suitcase –

 

“Ally!”

 

“What?” Ally asked innocently, still sitting on top of her bag, after being caught jumping on it again.

 

“The hell are you doing?”

 

“Closing my suitcase.” The unsaid ‘duh’ was obvious enough in her tone. Lauren stared at her friend in disbelief.

 

“Your bag is way too full; you need to take some stuff out.” Lauren told her raising an eyebrow at the girl.

 

“Help me close this, Laur.” 

 

“I told you: take some stuff out and then you’ll be able to close it.”

 

“Laaaaaaaau-ren.”

 

“No.” Lauren said firmly.

 

“Lauren pleeeeeease.”

 

“No.”

 

“Laaaaaau –”

 

“Lauren for God’s sake, help the girl with her bag!” Dinah yelled from her room. Lauren made a face and rolled her eyes whilst pointedly tossing her iPhone onto her pillow.

 

Lauren stood up from her comfortable bed and stared at Ally. “Do I sit on your bag?” Ally nodded, an eager smile plastered to her face.

 

Lauren sat down heavily on her friend’s bag. _It still didn’t close_. It sort of closed more than when Ally sat on it, definitely, – and because Lauren weighed more – but the zips were still too far apart from each other. Lauren and Ally’s eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

 

“I weigh more than you do!”

 

“I know!”

 

“Well, make it close!”

 

“Sit harder!”

 

Lauren paused, a confused expression on her face.

 

She turned to Ally, sincerely amused, “How do you ‘sit harder’?”

 

“Dunno.” Ally looked genuinely thoughtful for a second, and then shrugged.

 

“And you’re an idiot.” Lauren said matter-of-factly, wriggling uselessly on top of her friend’s suitcase, not achieving anything. Ally scrunched up her face.

 

“We need more assistance.” The shorter girl said helpfully.

 

“Alexa is like, a kilo or so heavier than you are. I doubt she’ll make a difference.”

 

“HEY I HEARD THAT.” Alexa’s voice boomed loudly from next door. Lauren and Ally exchanged sheepish expressions.

 

Lauren slumped forward. “Dinah!”

 

Said girl came barging through their connecting doors with such an unexpected suddenness that Lauren promptly fell backwards off Ally’s bag and landed with a muffled ‘oof’ on the carpeted floor. Her loud landing brought Alexa’s attention over (along with Alexa’s trusty iPhone).

 

“You called?” Dinah asked, not yet noticing Lauren’s predicament.

 

“Yes. We need your help.” Ally said very seriously. “We need you to sit on top of my bag so we can close it.” She finished with a sweet smile.

 

Dinah spotted Lauren sprawled over the floor in the most un-Lauren like pose that she outright laughed at her friend. Lauren glared and stood up. Dinah sat down carefully on top of Ally’s suitcase.

 

_It still wouldn’t close._

 

“What!” All three of them yelled at each other at the same time.

 

“Wriggle a little bit, Dinah.” Lauren said. This bag was ridiculous.

 

“Lauren go sit on Dinah or something.” Alexa said. She was now standing at their connecting doors, a highly amused expression on her face. Lauren stared at her suspiciously. “Have I ever wronged you?”

 

“Yes.” They told her, in similar tones of exasperation.

 

Alexa huffed. “That’s the last time I try to help you with your dilemmas. I’ll film this and put it on the internet.” She said with a defiant smirk, already a minute into filming a video on her phone.

 

Ally, Dinah and Lauren all simultaneously rolled their eyes. Alexa was dramatic, yes, but she wouldn’t actually film them –

 

“Lexa – what the heck – put that thing away!” Dinah hissed still sitting on top of Ally’s bag. Her bright pink Hello Kitty pyjamas and equally bright pink fluffy socks were not meant for other people’s eyes.

 

“Nope.” Alexa teased from the doorway, making sure to get everything from Ally’s humungous hair rollers and facemask, to Lauren’s blindingly colourful math themed pyjamas to Dinah’s outrageously pink sleeping attire to all three of them trying to close the over-packed suitcase in the most ridiculously useless way possible. Alexa had struck gold with this video.

 

“Lauren get her!” Ally cried, hair rollers bouncing obnoxiously. Dinah still sitting on top of Ally’s bag huffing in embarrassment at their current situation, and Lauren still sprawled, on the floor, a sour look on her face. Alexa sniggered.

 

“We’ll get your bag closed and then we’ll kill her. How does that sound?” Lauren said with an evil grin. Ally and Dinah nodded their affirmative. Alexa swallowed hard.

 

It was worth it.

 

* * *

 

“My arse hurts.” Alexa complained from her seat next to Lauren. Ally and Dinah were behind them discussing how their boyfriends were meeting them at the airport and how cute it was all going to be.

 

They were all comfortably seated in their oversized business class seats in the plane on the way back to Miami. Lauren’s parents had a crazy amount of frequent flier miles, on top of that, Lauren and her siblings regularly travelled for the sake of their sporting commitments. On another note it was safe to say that while they all felt a little homesick; they were all going to miss New York. Lauren especially, Ally noted with an all-knowing smirk.

 

“You shouldn’t have filmed us then.” Lauren said with a grin. Alexa looked to the ceiling, momentarily distracted by the airbag safety instructions before turning to her friend.

 

“No, you’re just violent!” Alexa told her. “You guys got about a couple thousand views last night when I checked online.”

 

Lauren physically face-palmed. She was sure that their mutual followers would’ve sent her a few messages regarding this video. “At least my butt is in perfect condition.”

 

“It was a great video. You’ll thank me one day.” Alexa said seriously. Lauren flicked Alexa’s forehead. “That was so rude.” Alexa muttered, pointedly rubbing her head.

 

“Hey, at least I wasn’t the one that backed into the countertop butt first.” Lauren replied with a poorly hidden snigger. Alexa flicked her friend’s forehead. Lauren pulled a face, a light pink tinging where Alexa had struck her.

 

“Would you stop being kinky over there?” Dinah whispered through the space between Lauren and Alexa’s chairs.

 

“Lexa’s the one that said her ass is in pain.” Lauren told them turning around to see Dinah’s reaction, Alexa blushing next to her. Ally, meanwhile was preoccupied with fiddling with the screen in front of her.

 

“Tell me that Lauren’s the only one that owns pyjamas with the quadratic formula on it.” Alexa challenged Dinah and Ally with a smug smile.

 

“You’re all being so immature.” Ally piped up, removing an earphone. “What are you talking ‘bout? Laur owns like, a t-shirt for every element on the periodic table.”

 

Lauren blushed and hid her face in her hands. “ _Allyyyyy_.” She whined in mortification.

 

“I thought they knew that!” Ally said apologetically. “Do they know about your–”

 

Lauren quickly reached through the gap between her and Alexa’s chair and clamped a hand over Ally’s mouth before she could spill another one of her embarrassing, albeit slightly nerdy, secrets. Alexa and Dinah exchanged devious smirks.

 

* * *

 

 

Ally slid into Alexa’s empty seat and elbowed Lauren in the side. “What’re you up to?

 

“Nothing really. Just scrolling. And answering messages.” Lauren replied not taking her eyes off her mac screen. Her fingers stopped their movement, green-eyes narrowing playfully, “was that a pun, Ally-cat?”

 

“I couldn’t help it.” Ally grinned. “Dinah’s dead as a rock, and she wouldn’t stop telling me puns on the ride to the airport before.”

 

Lauren chuckled lightly after turning to check on their sleeping friend behind her. “Yeah, I heard them. She sleeps like the dead.”

 

A comfortable silence washed over the two friends, soft snores coming from behind, Dinah, and in front of them, Chris and Taylor, simultaneously.

 

“You can tell me about her, you know.” Ally said after a few minutes of mutual quietness.

 

Predictably, Lauren’s fingers stopped moving over her keyboard again and she turned to face Ally with a puzzled expression.

 

“Camila.” Ally answered the unasked question.

 

Lauren ducked her head and blushed to the roots of her gorgeous, dark hair. Ally smiled at that. _She freaking knew it._

“What about her?” Lauren managed to ask after ineffectively calming her blush.

 

“You like her.” Ally said straightforwardly.

 

“I do not!” Lauren whispered loudly, scanning the small space around them to see if anyone had heard, not that they would even know who this ‘Camila’ person was in the first place.

 

“You do.” Ally said firmly. “She’s very attractive; yes I know, you don’t need to remind me.” Ally added at Lauren’s mortified silence.

 

“And if I hypothetically liked her?” Lauren asked after a few seconds.

 

“Then you better call her or something.” Ally replied with a laugh. The unsaid ‘duh’ was once again, obvious in her tone.

 

“Should I text her?” Lauren studied Ally’s furrowed eyebrows expectantly.

 

“Definitely call. Hearing your super raspy-slash-husky-sex voice on the phone is heaps better than a dry, emotionless text message.” Lauren sputtered out the water she should not have taken a sip of.

 

“Ally!” Lauren scolded after regaining her breath. “I’m going to text her.”

 

“No, no, no! Call her.”  Ally said seriously, huge brown eyes shining with earnest. “Trust me on this one.”

 

“Okay.” Lauren said finally. “I’ll call her when I’m done unpacking.”

 

“Call me when you’ve talked to her!” Ally squealed as noiselessly as she could, excitedly gripping her friend’s arm in her famous death-grip.

 

“Whatever.”

 

Ally sighed. “I’m going to my seat. We will discuss this in more detail at a later time!” She said standing up and contentedly settling herself in the aisle seat directly behind Lauren.

 

This was going to be one hell of a ride, Ally mused to herself, with a poorly-hidden grin, Dinah still next to her softly snoring away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow it's a miracle i updated!!!!!!!!! (and a day right after, these holidays should be super extended u feel me)


	7. Enriching Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren has zero subtlety

Ally had just gotten off the phone with her boyfriend, Troy, and was now currently lounging comfortably in her desk chair, having started her history essay an impressive eight different times. He had missed her a lot and planned a huge, romantic date for them, at the end of their first week of school.

 

Her phone started ringing an obnoxiously loud eerie ringtone, the Lana Del Ray one that Lauren had requested specifically for her number. She distinctly remembered the title being along the lines of American Dark Paradise or something super dramatic like that. It was very fitting, even though she was sure that the name she had come up for the ringtone wasn’t the actual name.

 

“Hey.” She greeted leaning back into her chair and absentmindedly swinging around.

 

“Ally her number is _missing_ a freaking number!” Lauren all but yelled into the phone. Ally had to hold it a few inches away from her ear to save her hearing.

 

“Whoa, girl, whoa, slow down.” Ally interrupted before Lauren could start freaking out again. “Tell me what went wrong using your inside voice.” She instructed slowly. Lauren huffed.

 

A pause. Ally knew Lauren was rolling her eyes on the other end.

 

“Are you done rolling your eyes?” Lauren grunted something incoherent. “Then tell me already.”

 

“She’s not answering her phone.” Lauren told Ally in a much calmer tone. “I checked her number again and instead of eleven digits, she’s given me ten.” She finished, voice slightly high-pitched and strained. Ally bit her lip to stop from laughing out loud.

 

“Okay.”

 

“IS THAT ALL YOU’VE GOT TO SAY TO ME?” Lauren shrieked, voice somehow managing to rise an octave higher. Ally held her phone away from her ear again. The girl had lungs of a singer, Ally mused.

 

“What did I say about inside voices?” Ally reprimanded lightly, laughing a little at hearing Lauren’s indignant huff on the other end. “Have you taken a few deep breaths and thought for a second that it’s literally _one_ digit?” She asked examining her still perfectly manicured fingernails.

 

“ _Oh_.”

 

“Mhm.”

 

“Yeah, but what if it’s entered in funny and she missed a number that’s in the middle or –”

 

“Lauren would you just – for God’s sake – just _breathe_.” Ally interrupted before Lauren went off on a completely different tangent. The girl was well-known for being nervous over literally nothing. But then again, Ally totally couldn’t blame her for something like this; it was Lauren’s crush of all things.

 

“I. Am. _Breathing_.”

 

“Your teeth sound awfully clenched.”

 

“Ally, I will strangle you.”

 

“No you won’t because I’m helping you here.”

 

“Whatever.”

 

Another pause.

 

“Lauren.”

 

“ _What_.” She snapped.

 

“Um. Your blog.”

 

“And?”

 

Ally had to restrain herself from physically face-palming. Lauren was exceptional at anything she wanted to do but when it came to common sense, sometimes, Ally wondered what happened there. Lauren could be a bit of an idiot every now and then.

 

“Your blog.” She said slowly.

 

“My blog.” Lauren replied, equally as slowly, but sounding horribly confused.

 

“Yes. Your blog.”

 

“Yeah. My blog.” Ally felt like this conversation wasn’t going where she originally wanted it to go.

 

“Mhm. Give it a second.”

 

Ally heard loud shuffling on Lauren’s end of the line. She assumed Lauren had shifted positions.

 

“Have you got it yet?” She asked.

 

“I have no fucking idea what you mean.” Lauren said after a few more seconds of silence. Ally sighed loudly.

 

“Lauren. Listen to me sweetheart, how many notes did your last text post saying ‘wot’ get?”

 

Another pause.

 

“Well, _fuck_.”

 

“Mhm.” Ally started laughing.

 

“Shut up.”

 

“You’re so dumb sometimes.” Ally paused to catch her breath. “Draw a picture of her too.” She added.

 

“Yep.” Lauren cleared her throat, sounding nervous. “I’m going to talk about her okay. I’ll request my followers to signal boost my post.”

 

“What sort of things are you going to say?” Ally asked, trying her best to sound as neutral as possible.

 

“Lots of things. Probably what she looks like. Um. That thing her eyes do.”

 

“What thing do her eyes do?”

 

“I don’t know? They’re like, sparkly and they just saw into me. I don’t know. This is dumb.” Lauren muttered the last part feeling embarrassed.

 

“Awww, that’s so sweet, Laur.” Ally gushed spinning around her in chair and squealing.

 

“Shut up.”

 

“Are you going to tell the others?” Ally asked, stopping mid-spin, regaining seriousness.

 

“Yeah. I thought we were all going to Skype later.” Lauren said. “Apparently, Lexa has an important story to tell us that absolutely cannot wait until school on Monday.”

 

“What else did you expect?” Ally laughed.

 

“I’ll talk to you soon.”

 

“Bye, Laur. Good luck with that post.”

 

Ally heard Lauren sigh heavily. “What if she doesn’t see it?” Lauren sounded so lost.

 

“Oh honey, she’ll see that post.” Ally reassured her. “If she doesn’t see it, there’s a huge chance someone else she knows, will.”

 

“But –”

 

“Will you stop being such a Lauren-downer and write your darn text post.”

 

Lauren laughed loudly at her friend’s outburst. “Alright, alright. I’m going now.”

 

“See you later.”

 

Ally tossed her phone onto her bed and sighed happily. There was a humungous chance that Camila would see this post. Lauren’s internet ‘fame’ had gotten Lauren lots of things she didn’t even know she could get. That modelling contract included. Lauren’s remarkably green eyes paired with her ridiculously good-looking features and naturally slim figure had caught the eyes of genuine, well-known modelling agents. It probably helped that Lauren’s knack for photography and anything design related, made her blog one of the easiest and most enjoyable navigate through.

 

The girl was definitely going places.

 

* * *

 

**Lauren:**

Everybody here?

 **Allycat** **< 3: **

YES YES YES!!!!

**DJ:**

im h e r e

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

obvs

**Lauren:**

What thing did you want to tell us, Lexa?

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

!!!! (:

**DJ:**

brb food

**Lauren:**

GODDAMNIT DINAH

cant you wait?

Whatever.

**Lauren:**

ALEXA.

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

yo wsup

**Lauren:**

TeLL US

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

lol Lauren

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

there’s this guy

and like

I’m pretty sure we’re dating

like actual dating-dating not that rubbish where u stare at each other all day and do nothing bout it

**Lauren:**

 …

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

his name is Luis

he’s the love of my life and we will get married and have 7 children and a dog and a cat

nevermind the children

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

I’m very happy for you Alexa!!!!!! <3 <3 (: (: (: 

that's so sweet

**Lauren:**

I’m still confused

You already have a boyfriend called Luis?

ALEXA

YOU DO DON’T YOU YOU DRAMATIC SHIT

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

I just wanted to share my love

and also he bought me a bouquet of flowers

(pretty flowers)

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

AWWWW

THAT’S SO ADORABLE

AWW

**Lauren:**

this conversation was dumb

was that that thing you “needed” to tell us?

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

LOL I bet u laurens rolling her eyes

**DJ:**

yo what did I miss

these ribs r da bomb diggity

u hear me ? da bomb diggity 

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

I’m glad that your food tastes awesome, Dinah

 :D :D :D

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

you missed some deep conversation shit, D

**Lauren:**

lol no you didn’t

Lexa stop being a lying buttcrack

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

:O

ALLY LAUREN’S BEING MEAN

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

Lauren, stop being so mean!

**DJ:**

y’all cray

im goin back2 eat sum ribs

im out

 **Allycat** ** <3:**

WAIT WAIT WAIT

!!!!

**DJ:**

wat

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

yea what

**Lauren:**

I have an important thing to tell you

and unlike Alexa's, mine is actually IMPORTANT

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

**DJ:**

hurry up my ribs r getting cold

 **Allycat** **< 3: **

you can do it Laur!

<3

**Lauren:**

Remember Camila?

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

that chick that lives in ny

**DJ:**

she’s gr8 at candy crush

girl’s got sum srs movies

moves**

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

yep

**Lauren:**

I think I like her

**DJ:**

LOL!

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

omfg LOL Dinah

HAHAHAHAJFHASFKJHALRHAHAHAHF

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

you guuuuuuuuuuys

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

DINAH CALLED IT THAT’S WHY WE’RE LAUGHING

OMFGSKAJFHA OMG

**DJ:**

AHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA LOL OMFg

ILY LAUREN GIRL <3 ILY

**Lauren:**

you freaking knew

what the hell

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

laur, bb, ur subtlety needs a lil werk, js

a lot of werk

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

js?

**Lauren:**

“just saying”

 **Allycat** **< 3: **

TY

**Lauren:**

YW

WAS IT THAT OBVIOUS?

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

pretty much, yea

**DJ:**

AHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

dinah omg  

im laffin so har

d

oop forgot the d  

**Lauren:**

dinah stfu

alexa get out

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

u deserve a huge hi 5 tmr, D!!

and maybe a cookie!!

i’ll giv u one!!! OR TWO!!! MAYBE!!

juaaaaaaaaaaan

**DJ:**

HAHAHAHHAWSJASAAHAHAHAFAHASAHA

**Lauren:**

 ok

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

y’all need to give Camila a chance

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

we r

**DJ:**

I called ittttTT

**Lauren:**

dinah shut uppP

**DJ:**

ily Laur

**Lauren:**

ily2 DJ

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

isn’t that adorable

now go make out

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

alexa u need a time out

ILY ALL ALWAYS

<3

<3

<333333333333333

**Lauren:**

aw bb I love u too <3

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

<333333333333333

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

cheesy shits

**DJ:**

your telling me

**Lauren:**

you’re****

**DJ:**

SCHOOL HASN’T STARTED YET GET OUT

I have more swag then u

**Lauren:**

more like sw0g

you have sw0g

#sw0g

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

Lauren just wants to be swaggy

**Lauren:**

idiot

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

I hav more swag than all of u combined

boom

swaggyyyy~~~~~~

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

I have swag

**Lauren:**

LOL ALRIGHT ALLY

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

I do have swag!

**DJ:**

it’s cute dat you think dat

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

you guuuuuys ):

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

a lil of my swag has rubbed off on u so u do maybe hav sum form of swag

maybe

 **Allycat** **< 3: **

thank u?

**Lauren:**

OK

I need to sleep. I’m weirdly jetlagged and I need to have dinner

**DJ:**

I need 2 eat me sum ribs!!!!!!!!!!

catch yous 2mr I guess!!!

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

WAIT WAIT WAIT

whose car?

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

I have to take my siblings 2 school soz ):

**Lauren:**

saaaame ):

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

ugh the pain of being an older sister I swear

**Lauren:**

I KNOW

**DJ:**

come get me ally

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

 I’ll pick u up around 8 ish alright, D?

**DJ:**

cool

see yas

**Lauren:**

goodnight (: sweet dreams and stuff whatevs

ily

**DJ:**

sames

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

mhm ily guys toooOooooooooooooooooO

 **Allycat** **< 3:**

I love y’all thanks for that trip, <3 means a lot to me that we got to spend all that time together!! Senior year here we come!!!!!

goodnight, god bless <3333333

<3

**Alexaaaaaaaaaaaaa:**

<3

 **DJ:**  
<3

**Lauren:**

…

oh alright

<3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the lack of camren so far but i promise that this is necessary!!!


	8. Catastrophic Ideas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Pick yo’self up and stop being so dumb.”

Camila sighed pulling her navy blue school blazer tighter around herself and shuddered. Today was downright freezing. And she had to go to school. Of all the places she could go in the world and she had to go to school. She had to wear her stupid uniform and hand in her stupid assignments and do stupid things all day. (With stupid people.) It was a little frustrating to say the least. She’d much rather fall asleep at another one of her father’s corporate dinners than sit through another lecture of a subject she vaguely understood.

 

She glanced up at the sky. Grey. _Freaking wonderful_ , all she needed now was the sky to start pouring rain or hale or something like that. She shuddered again. _It was so freaking cold today._ Although her mother had had her whole uniform ensemble tailored for her figure and some ‘minor’ alterations added, she’d still never like wearing it. (Even if it was surprisingly comfortable.) On top of that, it was definitely far too cold to go to school, actually, too early to alive even. She haphazardly tossed a chemistry textbook into her schoolbag and sighed again. _Fuck school._

 

However, it was an annoyingly necessary part of life, and while it was bearable most of the time it drove her insane. _It drove everyone insane_. She’d rather wander around New York and get lost or something.

 

“You’ve got everything you need?” She heard James ask before he shut her door. Camila nodded, distractedly fixing her matching cashmere navy blue scarf and sunk further into the BMW’s leather interior with another loud sigh. “Excited for the term?” He asked chuckling at another of Camila’s muffled yawns, smiling at her through the rear-view mirror. Camila scowled. James was too happy in the mornings for her taste.

 

“I’m never ready.” She replied, raising a defiant eyebrow. He laughed again.

 

“You always say that.”

 

Camila only rolled her eyes.

 

* * *

 

 

“Is that her?”

  
“Camila?”

 

“Cabello?”

 

“Yeah, dude.”

 

“That’s definitely her.”

 

“No way.”

 

Normani narrowed her eyes, zoning in on her shorter friend from a few metres away. Rumours were spreading quickly and she needed to get to the bottom of this. Well, as close to the bottom of it as she possibly could. Knowing Camila, the girl always had strange rumours circulating about her, which for the most part remained untrue, and Camila was always completely oblivious to them. Their school wasn’t exactly known for being subtle either. Actually, their school had yet to learn the meaning of the word subtle.

 

Normani raced towards Camila’s locker in the semi-packed hallway of their school. She had spotted the petite girl from the entrance of the corridor and wanted to confirm some extremely important information. She couldn’t believe Camila hadn’t told her. _The nerve_. She’ll sort that out soon enough.

 

“CAMILA!”

 

Normani ran – and Normani does not run – to her friend, nearly slipping over and breaking her neck in the process due to the ridiculously glossy marble floors.

 

Camila whirled around to find her face full of her best friend. “Hello?” She greeted, automatically pulling a face at discovering how close Normani’s was from her own. Camila noted that Normani’s gorgeous features were even prettier at this angle, but even though Normani was unquestionably a stunning person, she didn’t really appreciate the sudden invasion of face-space. She huffed.

 

“Why don’t you tell me these things Camila!” Normani said loudly, not moving an inch. Other students turned to stare, Normani’s voice attracting their attention. Camila shrank further into her locker.

 

“What?” She asked, confusedly. Normani remained rooted in her spot, clearly unwilling to move. Camila huffed again.

 

Normani was a little crazy sometimes, she’d give her that, but she was not usually this cryptic.

 

“Don’t give me that.” Normani stepped a little closer. Camila held her breath.

 

Normani sounded uncharacteristically irritated. Camila automatically backed into her locker to get more of the initial personal space she had before her dark-skinned friend had arrived. But, Normani stepped closer again, and tips of their noses were literally touching. Camila could feel her friend’s breath on her lips, so she let out an involuntary squeak. _Normani was way too close_.

 

“I seriously don’t even know what you’re talking about, Mani.” She answered, her right hand blindly hunting for any random book in her locker, upon finding her dictionary, she held it up to use as a make-shift shield. Normani pushed it away and studied her friend’s face closely; Camila scrunched up her face at Normani's blatant staring.

 

“Never mind, it’s not important.” Normani brushed thoughts of what she’d read online on hold when she noticed a genuinely confused expression on Camila’s face and backed away. “What’s important is that I got back last night!” She said the last part with a high-pitched squeal. Camila winced at the sound.

 

Slightly confused, and really kind of relieved at the sudden topic change and space, she asked. “Was the weather any good? Because it was the arctic over here.”

 

“It was perfect. You would’ve loved it.” Normani told her with a wistful sigh. “You really should have come. There was lots of space on the boat.”

 

“My mother was being you know – all weird and that.” Camila told her regretfully. “Did anyone else go with you?”

 

“Nate had to leave after the first week.” Normani sighed. Camila gripped her friend’s wrist in a silent apology.  “Something about the resort, I’m not really sure. But, otherwise, it was just me.” Normani said the last bit with a slight pout, and Camila cringed feeling a little guilty.

 

“I’m sorry.” Camila said with a frown. She nudged Normani’s arm lightly. “You’re still coming to the dinner though, right?”

 

“Mm.” Normani nodded her confirmation and then paused to study her friend’s behaviour this time. Finding nothing, she asked. “Where’s Nate?”

 

“Probably late. As usual.” Camila replied with a laugh. Nathaniel Evans was their other friend. And he was always late. No matter the occasion, it was expected that the boy would be late. _Late and pretty_ , Camila thought with an affectionate eye-roll.

 

“My beautiful ladies!” Nathaniel’s deep voice boomed loudly over the noisy chatter from down the hallway. Understandably, a few students turned, curious to see where the voice came from.

 

Camila blinked, tilting her head ever so slightly to the right to study her friend more closely. The boy seemed to have shot upwards, his usually short coppery-brown hair was longer and slicked back, emphasising his stunning jawline and well-defined cheekbones, gentle green eyes shining with pure happiness all the same. Camila grinned. She had missed him.

 

Camila and Normani rolled their eyes simultaneously at his greeting though. _Typical Nate_. But Normani threw herself at him when he was within arm’s length. And then so did Camila. (Not that she wanted to.)

 

“How have you both been?” He paused to swap a meaningful look with Normani, who only shook her head. This exchange went unnoticed by their other friend who had gone back to rearranging her textbooks in her locker.  “Karla. You’re all smiley!” He teased, poking her in the arm. She mock glared at him and brushed her sleeve where he had touched it, smoothing out the non-existent crease.

 

“I’m just very happy to see you, Nathaniel.” She replied, leaning over to pluck a non-existent thread off his shoulder. She grinned sheepishly, fondly patting his cheek.

 

He’d definitely grown taller. Last Camila recalled, she’d been at least up to his nose. Now, Nate towered over her already petite height. She noticed the subtle difference in the way his uniform hugged his body, and put it all down to puberty. Puberty suited him well. He’d always been an exceptionally handsome boy, but this time round, Camila knew to expect a little more attention from the female population this term. Ugh. _Damn it, Nate._ That would not be an enjoyable part of the term for either her or Normani.

 

Nate grinned, bright green eyes twinkling playfully. “Give us a kiss then.”

 

Camila and Normani exchanged a smirk but together leaned over at the same time to plant a kiss on either of his lightly tanned cheeks.

 

“I trust that you’re both well and in good health?”

 

Trust Nathaniel to speak forty years older than his actual age. Normani and Camila missed it all the same.

 

“Of course we are.” They replied in unison.

 

“Nothing unusual happened to either of you?” He asked, purposely directing his question at Camila. She shrugged and shook her head, not seeming to notice. Normani subtlety smacked Nate’s arm. Camila sent a disapproving frown at the girl.

 

Camila paused to take another look at him. “I swear, you’ve grown at least two inches these holidays.” She said, squinting slightly. “I was up to your nose at least.”

 

“She’s right. You were only a centimetre or two taller than me before term ended.” Normani added, feigning shock.

 

“Must be puberty then.” He replied. He threw his blazer over his shoulders and adjusted his crooked tie again. Camila slapped his hands away from the appalling excuse of a double Windsor knot and quickly fixed it, having had way too much experience with them due to her mother’s work. The boy could barely dress himself. Normani let out a rather unbecoming snort.

 

“Hey, Cabello!” A familiar voice called. Camila turned around. _Arin_.

 

“Ray.” She acknowledged with a wry smile. He nodded. “Stromberg.” She added as another boy in their year approached them. He gave them a curt nod before giving another nod to her other friends. Normani stared, unsure of where this exchange was going.

 

“Didn’t know you had it in you.” Ray said, sounding mildly impressed. Camila’s stared at him, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Normani’s eyes widened and she proceeded to aggressively push Nate into their classmates, causing them to all topple over each other.

 

It was a rather comical sight to say the least. All three highly athletic boys were sprawled over the immaculate hallway floors, scattered laughter echoing around them. The floors were so damn glossy, Camila thought holding back a laugh of her own. Nate stared incredulously at a seemingly apologetic-looking Normani. Arin and Keaton were blushing with embarrassment and immediately picked themselves off the floor up and helped Nate to his feet.

 

“Sorry about that.” Nate told the two, both of whom graciously accepted his apologies with apologies of their own, whilst cleaning the non-existent dust off their identical slacks. “I’ll see you at the lacrosse meeting later.”

  
Both boys quickly walked back to their peers, ears pink with embarrassment. Nate pointedly stared at Normani, a light pink still tinging his cheeks.

 

“What.” Normani said after a few minutes. Camila rolled her eyes.

 

“You totally pushed me.”

 

“There was a bee.”

 

“There was not a bee.”

 

“You didn’t see it!”

 

“There wasn’t a bee.”

 

“There. Was. A. Bee.”

 

“No. There. Wasn’t.”

 

“Are you questioning my –”

 

“Guys!” Camila interrupted before their banter rose any more in volume (and stupidity). “We’ve got assembly now.”

 

Both groaned and scowled at each other.

 

“Welcome back to school, my loves.” Camila told them, as she linked their arms together.

* * *

 

“Will you stop looking so darn sad and give it a few days, at least?” Ally scolded lightly.

 

Lauren was currently sulking. She’d made one of her most personal posts and only gotten a few measly notes on it, despite adding an immaculately drawn picture of the beautiful girl she’d met a few days earlier.

 

“She’s never going to see it.” Lauren whined, burying her face in her arms on top of the desk she was sitting at. Ally exchanged a glance with Dinah and Alexa and all simultaneously rolled their eyes while Ally rubbed Lauren’s back consolingly. Alexa was supposed to be the dramatic one.

 

“Girl, you just stupid impatient.” Dinah told her raising an eyebrow. She turned around to face Lauren, “didn’t anyone teach you how to wait?”

 

“Yeah. You’re just impatient.” Alexa echoed. She whirled around in her chair, flicking her long ponytail in Dinah’s face. “Just chill.” She advised.

 

“It’s only been twelve hours, Laur.” Ally reminded her, smiling reassuringly, pointedly ignoring the loud smack Dinah had delivered to Alexa’s unsuspecting arm.

 

“Ally is right. Pick yo’self up and stop being so dumb.” Dinah reiterated, flicking Lauren’s hair in her face. Lauren gave her a very unamused expression and ran a hand through her hair again to fix it.

 

“I don’t understand why you’re being so depressed over this, you know?” Alexa began, still rubbing her arm. Ally shot her a warning look. Alexa was not known for being very tactful. “You are stupid attractive. I would tap you so hard. If you know, you consented. And if I was single.” She paused. “Luis wouldn’t mind, I don’t think.”  

 

Lauren’s cheeks pinked and Ally and Dinah closed their eyes, cringing.

 

“Thanks… Lexa.” Lauren said dryly.

 

“Was I not supposed to have said that?” Alexa asked, raising an eyebrow at them all. “I wasn’t lying. You’re very hot. Like, I don’t understand why we’re not all throwing ourselves at you.”

 

“Yeah, but what if she wants to be beautiful.” Dinah interjected. “And we’re also in school.”

 

“Well she is damn beautiful.” Alexa said sarcastically. “She can be that anywhere else too.”

 

“I meant her personality, you dumbass.”

 

Ally was watching on with a mildly amused expression on her face. Lauren shook her head, more out of exasperation than anything else.

 

“She has a dazzling freaking personality then.”

 

“So you date her!”

 

“I have Luis.”

 

“Do you tell Luis that he’s beautiful?”

 

Alexa paused before very seriously saying, “I tell him he’s pretty and he tells me I’m pretty and we get food together a lot. It’s a win-win, honestly.”

 

“Okay, that’s enough. That was the stupidest argument ever.” Ally cut in before Dinah could rebut Alexa again. Ally shot the Polynesian girl a pointed glare. Dinah huffed. “What we need to figure out, is how to get this message out there, you know?” She said thoughtfully.

 

Alexa and Dinah stared at each other, apparently in deep thought. Lauren shrugged; she honestly did not care at the moment. Her post hadn’t even reached Camila.

 

“Why don’t we just let this post simmer for a while?” Alexa suggested slowly, “I mean, it’s only been like what, twelve hours? Like you said? You have to give it about a week or something to really let those meaningful Lauren thought-juices bubble and boil together and recombine to make the most deliciously –”

 

Dinah and Ally frowned at her description. Alexa had this gift of somehow trailing off and directly correlating every situation – no matter how serious – with food.

 

“– heart squishing post, yeah?” Alexa looked around at her friends. Dinah and Ally were just staring at her blankly and Lauren wasn’t paying attention at all. “What?”

 

“Never-mind. We’ll just let that post ‘simmer’ or whatever you just tried to say.” Ally said pulling a face.

 

* * *

 

 

“She has no idea?”

 

“I don’t think she’s got the slightest clue.”

 

Nate stared at Normani incredulously for the second time that day. “Are you serious?”

 

“Hundred per cent, Evans.” Normani replied with conviction. She kicked off her black leather shoes and wriggled her stocking-clad toes in content.

 

“You realise what this entails, though.” He said with a sly grin.

 

“Not at all, do tell me though.” Normani said, a matching grin stretching across her face, knowing exactly what he meant.

 

“We plan an all-out attack.” He concluded simply. Normani stared at him blankly. That was not what she was thinking at all.

 

“What.”

 

“We plan an all-out attack.” Nathaniel said, slowly this time. Normani threw a cushion at him. He caught it with ease.

 

“That’s stupid.”

 

“You’ll find that it really isn’t.” He said. He plopped down on the sofa she was reclining on and bore his green eyes into her dark brown ones. “It’s really very simple.”

 

“I’m thinking that it’s not.”

 

“You’re thinking too hard.”

 

“It’s not my fault that your ideas are catastrophic.”

 

“My ideas are _not_ catastrophic, I’ll have you know.”

 

“Whatever.”

 

Normani sighed and leaned further into the fashionably worn leather sofa and gave her apartment a once over. Not really her apartment, her own floor, to be more accurate. Nate crossed his slack-clad legs and pushed his sleeves up to his elbows, yawning deeply.

 

“Do you want me to explain the plan or what?” Nate asked after a few seconds of companiable silence.

 

“You might as well.” Normani told him closing her eyes for a moment. Then opening them again, feeling Nate’s stare.

 

“We’ll contact this Lauren person or whoever it is, and bomb them with questions.”

 

Normani snorted.

 

“That is the stupidest plan ever!” She exclaimed, unable to contain a laugh. Nate frowned.

 

“We have to be more classy and more mature than that, you idiot.”

 

“We’re teenagers, we’re not supposed to be immature.”

 

“Speak for yourself.”

 

“Where’s Camila anyway?” Nate asked, wisely opting to change topics. He never won arguments with Normani, even if he was right. Something he’d learned very early on in their friendship.

 

“She’s probably at home now. She apparently had a photo-shoot or something to do after school. It was a vague excuse.” Normani told him with a sigh and a wave of her hand.

 

“Is she going to come over later?”

 

“Probably. It _is_ Monday.”

 

“Oh yeah, the drafting’s today, isn’t it?”

 

“Yeah, that and Sofia’s at playgroup or something.”

 

“Wait. This photo-shoot, hasnt' got to do with her, does it?” Nate asked suddenly, sitting ramrod straight in his seat, before turning to face Normani, eyebrows furrowing, green eyes a few shades lighter.

 

“I actually have no idea…” Normani trailed off. She and the green-eyed boy exchanged horrified glances and rushed to their feet.

 

“If she sees the –”

 

“I don’t think Camila would actually –”

 

“This plan is going to –”

 

“Oh my god…”

 

Normani sat back down, crossing her legs and biting her lip. “This is some serious stuff, Evans.”

 

“I know.” He murmured. “I seriously doubt Camila’s going to actually let them photograph her though.”

 

“I don’t know about that…” Normani said, trailing off again.

 

“What do you mean?” Nate began pacing in front of her.

 

“Have you seen the girl?” Normani deadpanned. “She could easily be a model.”

 

“And so could you.” Nate shot back with a playful smirk. “Why aren’t you one anyway?”

 

Normani ducked her head shyly and shrugged. “Oh, and what about you?”

 

“Those are minor details, darling.”

 

“Nate, seriously.”

 

“We’ll do it now.”

 

“What?”

 

“We’ll talk to this Lauren person or whatever.”

 

“Alright, let me get my computer.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omfg i'm so soososososo sorry (i said i'd be totally out of commission for 4ish days and that turned into more than 4 days pls 4give me) anyway. here we go. slight progression woOoohooo


	9. Finding Meaning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren finds stuff. It may or may not have especially to do with flowers and subtlety and stuff. Maybe.

Lauren stared at her note-filled page blankly, words and formulas all blending into one huge, black inked scribble, already distracted by the soft glow of her lamp against her room’s pastel colour scheme. She had somehow finished all her maths homework during class while her teacher droned on about critical points and concavity and she already knew that stuff _and_ partially did an English analytical essay as soon as she got home, none of which were due until next week. She was currently polishing up her physics notes. Not that she was bored or anything. She didn’t quite know where all the motivation had come from but decided not to question it. Alexa would so call her “a huge fuckin’ nerd.”

 

But now her thoughts were distracting her. Frickin’ Camila with her long, dark hair that frickin’ cascaded down her slender frickin’ back and her even darker frickin’ eyes that were beautiful yet annoyingly frickin’ mysterious at the same frickin’ time _. God-frickin’-damnit_. 

 

 _Frickin’ Camila_.

 

Groaning quietly to herself, she perilously leaned over the side of her desk chair to grab her mac off her bed and quickly powered it up while distractedly tapping her clear manicured nails on the top of her desk.

 

Opting to check her emails beforehand, because sometimes teenagers check their emails daily too, she automatically scrolled past the usual anonymous messages – some awful sounding ones, and some sweet ones – and made a mental note to reply to a few of them later. A couple of messages were asked off anonymous; from blogs she was semi-familiar with or from a random follower in general. It was kind of nice. She honestly, had no idea how her blog managed to become so popular. She was grateful regardless. She got to speak to and meet so many people she never thought she’d ever have the chance to. She was only a seventeen year old girl that was fond of writing and taking photographs and had access to the internet. It was nothing short of a miracle, really.

 

But one message in particular had caught her attention because it sounded way too good to be true.

 

 

 

 

 

> **normani-knowles** asked you:
> 
> January 12th 2013, 4:27:00 pm · 50 minutes ago
> 
>  “Hi, my name is Normani…”

 

Lauren shrugged. _Cute name_. Nor-mah-ni. Sounded foreign, kind of. 

 

 

 

 

> “…and believe it or not, I’m a close friend of the Camila I believe you’re talking about in your post. However, I’m not sure about a few things you’ve mentioned nor am I inclined to give away my friend’s personal details easily. I’m not sure what your intentions may be, but if this is the same Camila we’re talking about, I’m just saying that I’m not an unreliable source. By the way, I really do love your blog and Alexa’s; which is where I knew where to source your post from. Thanks?”

 

Lauren choked a little on the breath she didn’t know she was holding and bit her lip. Normani knew Camila? _Her Camila_? Wracking her brain for an appropriate response, she physically deflated and reclined back into her chair, carelessly spinning around in it, mind still blank. _What was she supposed to say?_

She didn’t know if this ‘Normani’ person was messing with her either. The only weapon she had was her uncanny super-police ability to trace IP addresses, and from there, potential home addresses. Not that she’d ever tell anyone that. The only other messages she had received remotely regarding her post were asking for pictures of Camila and fangirling over things she’d published, which she was always flattered about. Or the ludicrously narrow-minded ones she also received. Ones that she would never be posting. _Some people nowadays._

 

Her fingers hovered over her keyboard unsurely. She was nervous. And she had every right to be. This _person_ or these _people_ , Lauren thought warily, might actually _know_ Camila. They might know her in real life. They might see her in person on a regular freaking basis. _They might tell her about this post_. Oh god. That thought alone made Lauren’s heart both flutter and feel like raging thunderstorms at the same time.

 

It was kind of annoying.

 

But she had to be absolutely sure about this person. This Normani whoever-it-was. No matter how sincere they sounded, Lauren needed her own confirmation. She glanced at the time-stamp of Normani’s message. _4:27 pm_. It was currently 5:17 pm. _That wasn’t too large of an interval_. She typed in the url for her website cookie tracker that she used and found a whole heap of IP addresses that were on her blog at 4:27 pm, Miami time. Lauren pursed her lips. 

 

 _Oh wait_... Miami and New York run on Eastern Daylight Time, Lauren mentally slapped herself for forgetting. That's another reason why she loved New York so much, her sleep cycle hardly got messed up. Not that it mattered anyway, she'd ruin it herself come the week where homework snuck up on her.

 

Sighing heavily, she ran a hand through her dark hair, fixing it and then promptly messing it back up. This task might take longer than she anticipated, but she smiled to herself, deciding with an air of finality, that it would be worth it. And if Normani was a total faker – _no_ – she wouldn’t go there yet.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 _Good lord_. There were a _few_ people – and by few she actually meant a _few dozen_ – from New York alone that had accessed her page at that specific time, but one in particular was blocked – it didn’t even have the internet provider or the internet browser type thing she usually saw and some of the numbers that were meant to be in the actual IP address, were missing. Lauren stared at her screen, blinking suspiciously at this weird anomaly. _God_ – she didn’t even know if the stranger used internet explorer over chrome – that was kind of scary. Lauren knows plenty things about html coding and firewalls and protection and all that technology crap having had more than a bit of casual expert experience in dabbling in it and this was one of the best she’s ever seen. It was blocked – it was blocked really well – and Lauren knows what that means. There was some awesome professional-hacker-type-shit going on. She was highly impressed.

 

See, she had deduced three things about Camila and she was kind of proud of herself for said deducing skills. It’s related to this message Normani sent her, Lauren told herself, it was definitely related. Maybe.

 

One; Camila must be well-off. It made sense. She had a driver _and_ Lauren was quick to notice the designer shoes and purses the younger girl was often toting. She didn’t need to know the clothing brands to assume it was expensive. She wasn’t blind, she recognised designer when she saw it too. Her mother wore nothing but. Camila would probably look like royalty in whatever she wore anyway. Not that Lauren would ever tell anyone.

 

Two; Camila must be well protected. She had a driver that nearly tackled Ally and herself after Ally had accidentally sent Camila flying, that day in the gallery. Lauren didn’t notice it at first, but it totally added up. If Camila was well-protected, who’s to say that these ‘friends’ of Camila’s weren’t either? It would make a shit load more sense because hiding certain important sections of an IP address was bloody complicated.

 

Three; Camila was –

 

Actually, Lauren totally lied to herself; she didn’t quite get up to three points. Though she would if she thought hard enough.

 

She studied the IP address on her screen again, half frustrated and half impressed. (More impressed than frustrated, if Lauren was going to be honest.) This was an annoyingly good block. One that she wasn’t sure she knew how to get around without revealing herself. And it was the only one that lingered on nearly every personal text post and photograph she had on her page. It even thoroughly explored her ‘personal’ tag. Deciding to do the same, Lauren clicked on Normani’s url and shamelessly scrolled through the stranger’s blog.

 

Lauren huffed. She didn’t know if she was expecting a blog that basically mirrored Alexa’s because that’s more or less what Normani’s was. It didn’t exactly have identical posts or pictures but the high end fashion and the obsession with beds, flowers and smoke became increasingly obvious on each page, it lowered Lauren’s initial apprehension considerably. _This was just a regular teenage girl_ , she thought with slightly relieved sigh.

 

Not really knowing what to expect, and not really caring, she typed “/tagged/music” in after Normani’s url. If there was one thing Lauren knew about people, it would definitely have a lot to do with their taste in music.

 

Lauren’s eyes bugged out and she laughed out loud. Literally every song was a Beyoncé song. The url made sense now. This person would get along so well with Dinah, she mused with a giggle. Every now and then a different artist would appear only to be once again overshadowed by Beyoncé’s ridiculous talent, but it was always something R & B related. It totally wasn’t her style to do so but Lauren listened to four songs in Normani’s music tag, distractedly moving to the beat whilst vainly trying to find a personal photo or link to any other social media sites the stranger might have, all the while being exceptionally unsuccessful. She was disappointed. She wanted to see her face. Not to see if Normani was hot, she rolled her eyes, (Alexa would give her so much shit) but out of sincere curiosity.

 

Normani _seemed_ genuine, Lauren decided. If she really wanted to hack her, with that expertly blocked IP address, she could have definitely done some serious damage.  But Lauren _didn’t_ know who Normani was and that was the real deal breaker here. Lauren shrugged her what-the-heck-it-doesn’t-matter-anyway shrug clicked on the tab where her own tumblr inbox was already opened.

 

 _It wouldn’t hurt_. 

 

 

 

 

> “Hello Normani. You’ve got a pretty name.”

 

That was a relatively normal-sounding thing to say, right? Lauren bit her lip again and her eyebrows scrunched, deep in thought. Talking to a random stranger on purpose seemed a little harder than she thought. 

 

 

 

 

> “I really do hope that this is the same Camila we’re talking about otherwise this would be just awkward. Haha. I’m not really sure how I’ll be able to convince you that I’m telling the truth, nor you me. The only thing I know is that you were the one that sounded the most genuine out of all the people that messaged me about that post. It doesn’t hurt to try, right? I’m Lauren. I’m not sure what will cement our trust, but I think, maybe a Skype session or something will sort most of our problems out?

 

 

 

 

> Anyway, I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you for responding!! That is still very much highly appreciated.

 

 

 

 

> Stay rad,
> 
> Lauren xx. ”

 

Clicking the ‘answer privately’ button Lauren heaved another loud sigh. _Woo_. Done.

 

 

* * *

 

 

About half an hour or so had gone by with Lauren just scrolling down her dash, reblogging and queuing posts with a click of her mouse, _wasting her life away_ , a nagging feeling came over her. Temporarily pausing her activity for a moment to think, Lauren rested her chin on one hand, eyebrows furrowed and jade green eyes narrowed in concentration.

 

 _Oh stupid_.

 

She had brilliantly forgotten to put her Skype handle in her reply. Lauren shut her eyes tight and groaned quietly, more embarrassed at her mistake than anything.

 

Accidentally refreshing her browser instead of opening a new tab, Lauren growled at her screen. _Ugh whatever_. She’d get annoyed with that later. A little red one appeared next to the envelope. And then that was quickly replaced with a two. Lauren bit her lip. She still got a little nervous opening messages even though she knew to ignore the disgusting hate she received. Her heart rate quickened anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

> **normani-knowles** asked you:
> 
> January 12th 2013, 5:22:00 pm · 25 minutes ago 
> 
> “OMFG YOU REPLIED TO ME!! I DIDN’T THINK YOU’D RECEIVE MY MESSAGE OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GODDDDD HELLO I LOVE YOUR BLOG SO MUCH OH MY GOD HELLO YES I KNOW CAMILA DEAR SWEET LORD HAVE MERCY ON MY OVARIES OH MY GOD HELLO LAUREN HI HOW ARE YOU OMFG I’M SO SORRY THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE BUT I JUST REALLY LOVE YOU A LOT OH GOD I’M SO SORRY YES HI.”

 

Lauren stared, eyes widening as she read on. A slow smile making its way across her face, Lauren replied with something along the lines of “I love you too, lol this made me smile because it was so such a wonderful thing to say,” and other things like “I really do think this was adorable” and “I appreciate this a lot” and ending it with her usual “stay rad.” And this time, remembering to put her Skype handle in the reply.

 

 

 

 

> **normani-knowles** asked you:
> 
> January 12th 2013, 5:24:00 pm · 27 minutes ago 
> 
> “Sorry about that, I needed to release it before it got out of hand. I don’t know what else to say to you other than your post is extremely popular already. That requires a bit of discussion, I think.”

 

Lauren bit her lip feeling guilty. She should have expected something like that. She just went and posted something about Camila and even drew her without the girl’s permission. Lauren felt like a bit of a dick.

 

She pondered her thoughts for a moment and clicked on the little blue Skype icon before she could change her mind again.

 

Normani had already added her. Lauren’s hands immediately got clammy and her breathing quickened. _Calm down_ , she told herself, _it’s not Camila, it’s her friend_. Oh that didn’t help at all. Lauren’s breath hitched in the back of her throat and she coughed weakly.

 

**Normani Kordei:**

Hello?

**Lauren:**

Hi! I’m Lauren.

(:

**Normani Kordei:**

I’m sorry, I’m such a huge fan.

**Lauren:**

that’s really sweet. Thank you so much.

i see you like Beyoncé a lot.

**Normani Kordei:**

Beyoncé is queen.

But on to more pressing topics

Camila?

(btw, there’s two people here. Normani and Nathaniel.)

**Lauren:**

Oh god, okay.

ummm we met when I was in NY last week

lol

hello Nathaniel

**Normani Kordei:**

Ohhhhhh that makes a lot of sense.

he says hi (:

**Lauren:**

???

and why are there two of you omgggg

**Normani Kordei:**

Just please tell me where exactly you met her

This situation is actually, super weird haha

School let out a few hours ago and we’re just waiting for Camila

**Lauren:**

madison ave. shopping center

oh that’s nice.

my friends and I don’t really do anything special after the first day back lol

**Normani Kordei:**

OHHHH

Okay, that makes perfect sense.

Anyway. Is it alright to video-call you?

We don’t have to if you don’t want to

We could be complete creeps, just sayin'

**Lauren:**

true…

**Normani Kordei:**

I’ve got it!

**Lauren:**

?????

**Normani Kordei:**

We’ll call you, but, you don’t need to activate your camera thing

Whatever it's called

Besides. We’re not stupid. You track your page (:

**Lauren:**

you make a compelling argument

and lol im not going to clarify that

like ever

**Normani Kordei:**

Oh, but you did.

HA

**Lauren:**

YeaHh lol fuuuuck

Ok ok I believe you

whatever you say with your blocked ip address and shit

**Normani Kordei:**

HAHAHA

I’m calling you!

**Lauren:**

WHATEVER

**Normani Kordei:**

Alright

 

Lauren nudged her cursor over the “answer video call” button and clicked before she could change her mind. She was feeling decidedly brave. To two complete strangers, no less. What was with her and strangers as of late?

 

She enlarged her Skype window and two unfamiliar faces appeared on her screen. Two extremely pretty faces, she thought to herself.

“So are we creepy old men?” A stunning, dark-skinned girl asked with a smile. Her clear voice echoed out of the expensive speaker system set Lauren was given on her fifteenth birthday. Lauren blinked twice to make sure she wasn't just seeing things; after all it had been a long first day of school.

 

The beautiful girl was seated next to an equally beautiful boy with lightly tanned skin and a hair colour Lauren was immediately envious of. Anyone would be, it was this copper-brown-not-red colour and Lauren gaped. Both were wearing identical uniforms, looking more like they stepped out of the cover of a magazine than completed a full day of school. The boy waved at her and both strangers grinned widely, displaying their perfectly straight, white teeth. They barely had a hair out of place.

 

Lauren continued to stare.

 

“I thought you’d be creeps!" She said playfully, vaguely aware of how low and hoarse her voice sounded from hours of not talking.

 

She watched the boy – Nathaniel? – scoff and then run a hand through his stylishly mussed hair, messing it up completely. Lauren smiled at that. He was just a regular boy.

 

“Sorry to disappoint.” Normani added. “So you believe us then?” She asked unsurely, tilting her head at the screen, dark eyes managing to find Lauren's despite not being able to see her.

 

Lauren sighed dramatically, and Normani laughed. 

 

“I’m sorry, I look like shit though.” Lauren told them sheepishly, voice muffled from leaning her chin on her hand. “First day back and everything.”

 

“Don’t be. We’ve just come from school, we’re hardly presentable ourselves.” Nathaniel told her, holding a hand to his chest and laughing loudly. Normani frowned at him.

 

Lauren hovered her cursor over the ‘video’ option, took a deep breath and clicked as she exhaled.

 

 

* * *

 

 

All three teens proceeded to continue staring at each other for the next minute or two. So, it would come as no surprise when they all consequently began feeling extremely awkward.

 

“You’re so beautiful.” Normani breathed softly, sounding reverent. Then turning to her friend, “I told you, Nate.”

 

Lauren ducked her head shyly and blushed furiously, completely missing the knowing look that Normani and Nathaniel exchanged with each other.

 

“She’s right. You’re undoubtedly gorgeous.” Nathaniel assured Lauren, whilst grabbing Normani’s flailing hand from hitting him in the chest. "Your eyes are something else." 

 

“You both aren’t so bad either.” Lauren replied, pink still tinging her cheeks, fighting the urge to cover her face. “Kind of glad that you’re not creeps though, definite kudos.” She cleared her throat, remembering why they were talking in the first place. “Camila’s not with you?” She asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

 

“No, sorry.” Normani said regretfully. “She’ll be over in a bit. She’s had to attend to something _important_.” An emphasis on the last word.

 

“Oh.” Lauren sighed quietly to herself. The other two heard it anyway.

 

“She’ll be here soon. If you really wanted to talk to her, you’ll honestly have to be a little more subtle than that.” Nate cut in just as Normani opened her mouth to speak.

 

“What?”

 

“Your post went viral, Lauren.” Nate told her straightforwardly. Normani shrugged.

 

“It barely got over three hundred notes. That’s totally not viral, buddy.” Lauren scoffed, raising an eyebrow at him. He only blinked.

 

“'Totally not viral’? You’ve got people from _our_ school reading these posts.” Normani said, arching her own perfect eyebrow at the screen. Lauren gave her a confused look. “People from our school stick to facebook and occasionally twitter.” If possible, Lauren looked even more confused. “Your post has been posted on facebook and from there, twitter.” Normani explained patiently, taking in Lauren's expression with well-hidden disbelief.

 

“I see.” Lauren said slowly. That usually happened to her posts though, and it never really went anywhere, if she was going to be honest.

 

“No you don’t.” Nathaniel said, shaking his head, coppery-brown hair flicking around carelessly, somehow making him more attractive. Lauren tore her eyes away from his gorgeous face and focussed on Normani’s. Not that that was any wiser – she was so freaking pretty. Lauren decided to focus on her hands. Which were shaking slightly.

 

“Camila’s mother is an editor.” Normani finally told Lauren. “I’m sure you’re familiar with Vogue.” She explained raising her eyebrow again.

 

“Vogue? As in –oh my god – as in Vogue magazine?” Lauren squeaked, eyes widening. “Are you fucking kidding me – oh my god – of all the people – oh my god – abort mission.” She covered her steadily blushing face with both hands and groaned.

 

“No you will not ‘abort mission’ or whatever rubbish you’re thinking.” Nate said firmly. Normani laughed at Lauren’s raised eyebrows and dropped jaw.

 

“You’ll need to find a way to be more subtle.” Normani said, having stopped giggling at Lauren’s expression.  “Camila’s got an extremely private life.” Normani told her seriously. “The extra attention she’s receiving right now isn’t something she’s fond of.” She paused to observe the girl on her screen. Lauren was shifting, uncomfortable under Normani's scrutinising stare. “Posting another picture of her probably isn’t the... best idea.”  

 

“I have no idea what to do.” Lauren told them biting her lip. She didn’t know how much that post would affect Camila’s life. She had no idea if she was regretting it or not yet. So far, it seemed relatively harmless. “Should I delete it?”

 

Normani and Nate exchanged a look. Lauren frowned. She knew friends exchanged looks all the time but these two had their faces carved by the blades of Jesus and Lauren couldn’t decipher any of it because she was so distracted. No one is _that_ good-looking in real life. But these two were, and Lauren had no idea how to even begin telling Dinah or Ally or Alexa. God forbid she attempt telling Alexa –

 

“Look. It’s too late to delete it now, there’s no way you can remove all evidence of it from the internet, right?” Nathaniel told her reassuringly. He smiled devilishly (Lauren cursed his good-looks for the hundredth time that conversation) before asking, “You _can_ woo a girl, can’t you?” Lauren watched him absentmindedly tug at his grey uniform pullover, his tie now slightly lopsided. “I mean, you’ve got experience with people – relationship-wise, I mean.”

 

At this, the green-eyed girl nodded, still unsure with where he was going with this. She wasn’t new to dating, obviously. She liked kissing people. She liked kissing people _a lot_. And there was nothing wrong with that. 

 

“Then you’re all sorted out!” Normani squealed happily, clapping her hands. Lauren laughed a little when Nathaniel rolled his green eyes.

 

Normani and Nathaniel suddenly looked over their shoulders at the same time, hearing footsteps.

 

“What’s wrong?”  Lauren asked curiously.

 

“I think that’s Camila.” Nate whispered, his voice growing serious, suddenly moving closer to the screen. Lauren’s eyes widened again.

 

“Holy shit.” She replied quietly, mostly to herself.

 

“I know.” Normani replied, also whispering. “Not sure though, it might just be the cleaner.”

 

“Or it could be Camila.” Nate said elbowing Normani gently, observing Lauren's reaction, a smirk playing across his face. 

 

“It could be the cleaner.” Normani scoffed playfully.

 

“Anyway –” Nate said, turning his attention back to Lauren’s now-amused expression. “We don’t know what your intentions are.”

 

“We so know what your intentions are, he’s lying to you.” Normani said, a smile making its way across her lips. 

 

Lauren’s cheeks blushed crimson and she had to physically restrain herself from throwing her laptop on the floor.

 

“I just want to talk to her again.” Lauren mumbled, ducking her head shyly.

 

The other two teen began laughing. Lauren narrowed her eyes at them. They were laughing at something she thought was important.

 

“No – no – no – don’t take our laughter the wrong way.” Nathaniel managed to get out. “It’s just – this is all so innocent.”

 

“It’s really adorable.” Normani added with her beautiful smile.

 

Lauren reddened further. She could swear that she had never been so mortified _and_ happy in her entire life. These people were definitely Camila’s friends. She didn’t know Camila that well, nor would she attempt to claim she did, but Camila had a good eye. She’d definitely knew how to pick her friends well. 

 

“Yeah, it’s not every day that we talk to an extremely well-known blogger.” Normani was rewarded with one of Lauren’s famous smiles.

 

“It’s not every day that I meet two beautiful people.” Lauren told them with a smirk. 

 

Nate and Normani began sputtering incoherent things like “oh my god” and “is she freaking serious” and “I think I’m going to die.” 

 

“I think that Camila’s really here. I can hear footsteps.” Nate said to Normani more seriously, not bothering to actually look at her. “Can you hear that?”

 

Normani frowned, and strained to listen. “Yeah I think that’s her.” Normani turned to look at Lauren apologetically. “I’m sorry. We have to cut this meeting a little short.” Lauren’s face dropped and Normani quickly added. “Look up flower shops and whatever over here and revise your knowledge of everything food-wise.”

 

Lauren blinked.

 

“Camila likes things to be deep and meaningful.” Nathaniel explained, also looking apologetic. “Look, if you want to date Camila, you’re going to have to be familiar with lots of types of food. She’ll expect nothing less.” He added with a grin.

 

Normani lightly smacked the back of his shoulder before saying, “don’t listen to him. Camila isn’t ridiculous. You’ll have to learn her yourself.”

 

“Okay, we’ve really got to leave. I can hear her yelling our names.” Nate whispered. Lauren nodded in understanding.

 

“It’s okay. It was nice to meet you though. Thank you for this.” Lauren told them sincerely.

 

“Aww that’s alright.” Normani gushed, clasping her hands together, waving Lauren off with one graceful movement.

 

“Get on that flower and food thing.” Nathaniel advised, but not before giving her a thumbs’ up with a ridiculously pretty smile. “Okay, goodbye. Nice to meet you.”

 

Lauren waved before clicking ‘end call’.

 

That went surprisingly well. Normani was not a creep. Instead, she was this insanely attractive girl, who was friends with this insanely attractive boy, who were both friends with a girl she had an insane crush on. Her world was about to get turned upside down and she wasn’t sorry in the least bit.

 

She knew that Camila’s friends were making her earn her way into Camila’s life. They were extremely subtle about the way they went about it though, Lauren mused thoughtfully. They seemed genuine and sweet and honestly, extremely posh. But their underlying, automatic protective instinct was obvious, Lauren understood that. She would’ve been exactly the same way if any of her friends were in Camila’s position. Even though she hadn't gotten to speak or whatever to Camila herself, Lauren felt lighter. Lighter than air, almost, and Lauren knew that sounded cheesy.

 

She huffed, unsure if she was annoyed with Normani and Nate or herself. _Camila was right there_. She was in literally the same room as the people she was just talking to, and while it was extremely frustrating to have her figuratively close, she couldn’t speak to her _yet_. It was so fucking frustrating.

 

Opening a new tab and typing “flower meanings” into the Google search bar she thought with a tiny smile, there was going to be a shit ton of flowers to read up on. So worth it though, she told herself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRYYYY ILY THANKS 4 BEING SO PATIENT YOURE ALL SO GREAT (but i have school and exams and yep.) wooo things happen wooOo


	10. A Beautiful Misunderstanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camila has a beautiful misunderstanding and Lauren contemplates her feelings. Is this love? What is love, anyway?

Camila yawned softly and brushed dark hair out of her eyes, blinking tiredly. School had almost fully wiped her out for that day. The cold misting up on her window made it impossible to see where she actually was, not that it mattered anyway, the traffic was always ridiculous at this time of day. She was sure that when she went home later that evening, she’d probably fall asleep in the car. Or Normani’s apartment, she wouldn’t be surprised either way.

 

 _It wasn’t too horrible_ , she reluctantly mused to herself, but _it was still school_. Classes had gone as expected. Assembly had gone as expected. Homeroom was, as usual, extraordinarily dull. The only thing that was weird was the bizarre attention she was given by nearly every student all day. A loud, disgruntled beep blared outside her window and Camila wriggled herself further into the leather interior and pulled her blazer tighter around her slender shoulders. It seemed like wherever she’d walk, the whispers would be there as well. And she’d hear the buzz of low voices that were curious _but_ not curious enough to ask her themselves. Just a general quiet hum of mutual agreement that Camila would be their focus for that day. The eyes that followed her movements around the corridors and during class, watching to see if she’d give anything away. But Camila didn’t know what they wanted to know. She was well aware of the rumours that followed her, she always brushed it off putting it down to her parents’ high profile jobs, but now it seemed that she was attracting more attention than usual. If today was tiring, she didn’t even want to think about what the next couple of days would bring her.

 

She hated attention.

 

She didn’t like when people stared and whispered and pointed and _analysed_. It made her feel like one of her mother’s models constantly scrutinised for the slightest ‘imperfection’. It made Camila’s skin crawl.

 

Normani’s behaviour was a little odd that morning too, but she quickly bounced back into her usual excitable self, Camila mused absentmindedly, distractedly checking to see if she had remembered to bring the right textbooks home. There was nothing unusual about Nathaniel’s either. He acted like the painfully respectful gentleman he was brought up to be. And other than that, Camila didn’t really think the two were any good at lying either, so, she’d totally catch them if they acted odd in the slightest. Maybe.

 

Camila was perceptive. She knew when things were being kept from her. But she knew when to pry and when to leave it alone. For now, her gut was telling her it wasn’t time yet. Or maybe she was still feeling a little ill from reading on her phone in the car but whatever.

 

Another ear-splitting horn blared from a few cars away and James honked back whilst throwing Camila an apologetic grimace. She just closed her eyes in exasperation.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Camila knocked hard on Normani’s door. The knuckles of her right hand stinging slightly, she hissed quietly in temporary agony. She rubbed her knuckles to soothe her pain.

 

A few more seconds passed, and she heard noisy shuffling of shoes and whispers from inside the room. She knocked again – left hand this time – pointedly yelling their names. _They were probably making out or something._ The unresolved sexual tension between her friends was **so** obvious, Camila smirked to herself.

 

The door swung open widely and she greeted met with two sheepish faces. Nate’s cheeks were tinged a light pink, slight perspiration on both their foreheads – despite the freezing weather – and they also appeared to be breathing rather…heavily. Camila schooled her features, managing to keep a straight face, but despite it all, she was unable to keep her eyebrows from raising in amusement.

 

“Well. Get inside then,” Normani told her expectantly, ignoring her smirk, dark eyes boring hers with something Camila couldn’t quite place. “You haven’t even changed, Karla,” She scolded good-naturedly. Camila ducked to avoid a swat to the back of her head.

 

“Neither have you two. I bet all you’ve done is sit here and talk about how good-looking I am,” Camila replied smugly.

 

Nate and Normani exchanged wary expressions. Camila stepped past them and headed directly into the kitchen to search Normani’s well-stocked fridge. Nate trailed behind her eagerly.

 

“What took you so long?” Nathaniel asked, plucking a peach from the fruit bowl and taking an unnecessarily large bite, juice running down his chin.

 

“Photo-shoot took longer than expected,” Camila replied tiredly, settling on a box of strawberries she found near the vegetable crisper. She turned around just in time to catch Nate wiping his face with the back of his hand, “I did a sample take and that took ages because the lighting was hideous,” Camila paused thoughtfully, “the lighting was the only thing that went well. Everything else was catastrophic. You should have seen my mother’s face,” she shrugged, biting into the pink fruit.

 

Nate and Normani looked at each other, similar expressions of affectionate exasperation. Camila was a talented photographer.

 

“Did you let them take pictures of you?” Normani asked knowingly. Camila flushed lightly and Normani raised an eyebrow.

 

“I sort of had to let them take them,” Camila murmured deliberately avoiding her friends’ gazes, and then took another bite of her strawberry, “Mother wants to introduce me. Says I’m getting recognised more often so she’s doing this,” she finished, lamely gesturing at the air.

 

“Are you a supermodel now?” Nate asked around another mouthful of peach.

 

“Of course not, you idiot,” Camila said sharply, and then more softly, “besides, behind the camera's more fun anyway.”

 

“Now you’ll be in the magazine,” Normani told her helpfully. Camila raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow. Normani smiled weakly. Nate guffawed.

 

“I think we’ll all agree that if I get famous, I might actually need bodyguards of some sort,” Nate interjected pompously. Camila stared at him.

 

“This isn’t funny, Evans,” Camila told him matter-of-factly, “if I start getting recognised more, I won’t be able to sneak out on my own. And neither will the two of you!” Normani blanched. She did love her secret shopping sprees.

 

Nate smiled showing Camila all his teeth. Camila reached out to mess up his mussed hair.

 

“It kind of is funny,” Nate replied after a few moments of comfortable silence. Camila threw a strawberry at him, aiming at his forehead. He caught it easily and popped it into his mouth, “that’s a big ‘what if’ though, Miss Cabello.”

 

“I know, I’m just being a bit pessimistic,” Camila sighed. She climbed onto the kitchen bench and crossed one leg over the other. Nathaniel leaned into the marble top.

 

“We’ll worry about those issues if they come about. Right now we have high school to think of,” Normani said, “besides, maths is hard enough, thank you both very much.”

 

“Why thank you for your highly sought after, incredibly sage advice, Oh Wise One,” Nate inclined his head at Normani’s direction. Camila snorted.

 

“You’re both so immature. I was just helping a girl out,” Normani huffed, “don’t come crying to me for help.”

 

Nate guffawed again. Normani pointedly ignored him.

 

“Oh how you jest, Miss Hamilton!” Nate crowed. Camila looked between her friends, clearly picking a side.

 

“Why yes Mr Evans, Miss Hamilton does jest rather magnificently,” Camila said, putting on a horrible English accent.

 

“Magnificent, did you say?” Nate played along with a more passable accent.

 

“So I say!”

 

“Ah, but surely you jest, Miss Cabello!”

 

“I jest rather magnificently. It borders on sheer genius, Mr Evans,” Camila said matter-of-factly.

 

“Ah.”

 

A pause.

 

“You’ve run out of things to say, haven’t you?” Camila asked with a laugh. Normani raised an eyebrow at her friends trying to keep her face impassive but was failing.

 

“I don’t know why we’re friends, honestly,” Normani told them not looking up from her phone, “You guys are ridiculous.”

 

Without any warning, Camila and Nathaniel dove onto the sofa sending Normani’s phone flying out of her fingers. A few moments of tense silence passed between the trio.

 

“If my screen is smashed, you guys are paying for repairs,” Normani said calmly. Camila and Nathaniel exchanged chastised expressions and straightened out the throw pillows meekly, Nate sheepishly handed back the other girl’s phone.

 

“Hurry up, we’ll miss our reservation,” Normani called over her shoulder.

 

Camila and Nate shamefacedly rushed after her, shoulders knocking into each other, hurrying to get to the car.

 

 

* * *

 

 

So this flower and food research, while promising, didn't do Lauren any good at all not knowing what in particular she was meant to be looking for. Did Camila like roses or did she think they were too cliché? Or did Camila like clichés? Did she have to look up clichés now?

 

Lauren sighed as if her end was nearing. Being in love was so tiring! Lauren froze. Was she in love? Sure, Camila carried a certain beauty about her and she had a nice smile that was sparkly and even nicer eyes and her teeth were cute even though they were a tiny bit crooked– Lauren blanched at her inner monologue – _how could teeth be cute_? Besides, Lauren thought trying to placate herself, being in love was such an adult feeling, her parents were in love! She couldn’t possibly know if she were in love, right?

 

“I didn't think it was possible for you to look so pathetic," a familiar voice said knocking her out of her reverie, “Clara said you’d be up here, she forgot to mention you were also being a loser.” 

 

Lauren glanced up at Alexa and glared. Or at least, gave a tragic attempt at one. Alexa settled herself comfortably on Lauren’s bed and shucked off her shoes. All her friends being friends with her mom never failed to unsettle her.

 

“I had a chat with Camila’s friends the other day,” Lauren said matter-of-factly deliberately ignoring her friend sprawling like a starfish on her bedspread.

 

Alexa’s eyes widened comically, “ _and_??”

 

“I don’t actually know,” Lauren murmured regretfully.

 

Alexa huffed, “seriously?” Lauren nodded sombrely.

 

“No wonder you look so pathetic,” Lauren scowled, “by the way, I can’t read your writing in this,” Alexa announced tossing Lauren her paper.

 

“I still have pride, you know?” Lauren said smoothing her essay down on her desk. 

 

“Are you sure? You’re just lying there, all pathetic like.”

 

“I’ve never realised how truly mean you really were until right now, just this moment, immediately cease this behaviour.”

 

“You loser.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

Both friends shared each other's company for another hour before Alexa announced that she had to meet Luis for dinner. Lauren allowed her friend to borrow a pair of heels and a jacket (“it’s freezing tonight, Laur!”) before leaving her alone.

 

“Flower meanings?” Taylor asked loudly from behind her. Lauren jumped so violently that her elbow sent her empty mug crashing to the carpeted floor.

 

Breathing heavily, with one hand to her chest and the other blindly reaching down for her mug, Lauren glared at her younger sister.

 

“Dude what the hell,” she complained, “you nearly gave me heart failure.”

 

“Sorry,” Taylor had the grace to look a bit ashamed, but asked anyway, “flower meanings? Who for?”

 

“None of your business, _nosy_.” Lauren set her mug far out of reach of flailing limbs and closed her laptop lid with a pointed click. She spun around in her chair to face her sibling and eyed her suspiciously, “What are you doing in here anyway? We had an agreement, Tay.”

 

“But Laur–”

 

“What. Do. You. **_Want._** ”

 

“Can I –”

 

“No.”

 

“You don’t even know what I was going to ask!” Taylor protested.

 

Lauren looked thoughtful and pretended to think.

 

“No.”

 

“Let me –”

 

“Fine, whatever it is, if you break it, you die,” Lauren said with a serene smile. Taylor almost looked worried.

 

“Thanks, Laur!” Taylor called already gathering some outfits for school.

 

“Whatever,” Lauren muttered as her little sister left her room carrying away half her wardrobe.

 

She needed to talk to Ally again. Someone in her circle of friends was bound to be the smart one. And also, she needed to re-do her English assignment, if Alexa couldn’t read it, nobody else could. A failing grade was the last thing she needed in this mess of a life. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to sincerely apologise for the 3-year-long hiatus, it wasn't intentional at all. I hope to finally finish this fic soon. :)


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